A mother of two, Lydia Aboagye, has been jailed and sentenced to life imprisonment by the High Court in Accra after being found guilty of murder.
Her conviction followed a full trial, with the seven-member jury returning a 5-2 majority verdict, which is sufficient under Section 46 of Act 29, as amended by the Criminal and Other Offences (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1101).
The convict was charged with killing (Murder) her husband, Kweku Gyasi (now deceased), with whom she had two children, following a misunderstanding in 2021.
Prosecution, led by Christabel Selma Anafure, a Senior State Attorney, called three witnesses, while the convict, Lydia Aboagye, led by Rita Kunkuti Ali, testified herself and called her mother as her only witness.
After the full trial, the jury found her guilty of murder, returning a 5-2 majority verdict before Her Ladyship Justice Marie-Louise Simmons convicted her.
On July 30, a day before the legal vacation, Justice Simmons summed up the case for the jury, who returned their verdict after 39 minutes of deliberation.
The Forelady said they had reached a verdict and their decision was 5-2 guilty against the accused (now convict).
The convict, who was given an opportunity to address the Court prior to sentencing, said, “I have nothing to say.”
Passing sentence, Justice Simmons said, “With the jury having returned a majority verdict of 5-2 of guilty, the accused is hereby convicted under Section 46 of Act 29, as amended by the Criminal and Other Offences (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1101).”
“She is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment,” the Court pronounced, adding that, “The accused (convict) and her counsel have one month from today (July 30, 2026) within which to file an appeal to the Court of Appeal.”
Per the brief facts of the case, the complainant is a driver’s mate and owns a property at Omanjor-Dwenewoho, adjacent to California School.
The accused person, Lydia Aboagye, is a petty trader and one of the tenants in the complainant’s house.
She lived in a single room with her husband, Kweku Gyasi (now deceased), and their two children.
On November 3, 2021, at about 4:30 a.m., a misunderstanding ensued between the accused person and the deceased, and in the course of the quarrel, the accused picked a broken Coca-Cola bottle and stabbed the deceased in the left rib.
“When blood started oozing from the stabbed wound, she rushed out and locked the wounded and bleeding deceased in the room,” the facts stated.
The accused then ran about 150 metres away from their residence and disposed of the broken Coca-Cola bottle she used in stabbing the deceased in the bush.
Fortunately, at about 5:30 a.m. that morning, the complainant, who is a Muslim, had just finished his morning prayer (Fajr) when his daughter approached him and informed him that she heard an unusual noise from the accused person’s room while sweeping the compound.
On hearing this, the complainant went to the accused person’s door and realised it was locked.
He forced the door open and found the deceased lying in a pool of blood.
The complainant called for assistance from other tenants and neighbours and rushed the deceased to the Ga West Municipal Hospital (known as Amasaman Government Hospital).
The medical officer on duty pronounced the deceased dead on arrival.
The body was conveyed to the Police Hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy. The accused person returned home later and started cleaning the pool of blood on the floor with a cloth.
While doing so, neighbours arrested her on sight and handed her over to the police.
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