Married man slapped with 5-year-jail term for killing cousin over ‘side chick’

An unemployed man, initially facing murder charges in the death of his cousin, has been sentenced to five years in prison.

The convict, Godwin Kotey, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

He admitted to the charge following negotiations with the state, activating the Plea Bargaining Act.

Plea bargaining is a process in criminal justice where an accused person relinquishes the right to a full trial in exchange for some other benefit.

In consideration of a guilty plea, the accused person gets lesser charges, a reduced number of offences, or receives a lesser sentence.

Kotey had earlier pleaded not guilty and was to stand trial for murder but following the agreement with the state, his plea was accepted by the court for manslaughter.

The facts before the court indicate that the accused (now convict) is a married man who lives at Jamestown near the Salaga Market while the deceased, Fredrick Nii Oko Sackey is a cousin of the accused (convict).

Sometime in June 2020, the accused (convict) who is a married man asked the deceased to accommodate his girlfriend, Victoria Sabbah in his abode since he could not bring her to live with his wife.

According to the prosecution, the convict later became suspicious of the relationship between the deceased and his girlfriend and accused the two of having an affair.

This allegation led to a series of confrontations and the deceased asked the lady, Victoria Sabbah to leave his room, which she did.

But in November that same year, the said girlfriend, Victoria Sabbah went back to the deceased to plead with him to accommodate her since she didn’t have anywhere to stay.

When the accused realized that the deceased continued to accommodate his girlfriend, he intensified his accusation and confronted the deceased to return all the belongings of his girlfriend to her.

“On November 23, 2020, the convict armed with a screwdriver went to Salaga Market to look for his girlfriend and engaged the deceased in a heated argument. In the course of the fight, he pulled out the screwdriver stabbed the deceased in the chest with it, and bolted,” as contained in the facts.

With the help of bystanders, the convict was later arrested and handed over to the police.

The pathologist confirmed the cause of Sackey’s death as a stab injury to the chest, resulting in a perforated right ventricle.