Senior retired police officer banned from detention, obtaining driving license
Former James Town Police Commander convicted of reckless and reckless driving
An Accra circuit court banned a senior police officer from holding or obtaining a driver’s license for 53 months after he ran over a two-and-a-half-year-old girl at James Town Police Station in 2015.
The court also sentenced Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Peter Yembilla, former James Town Police Commander, to a fine of 24,000 GHC for failing to serve a 24-month prison term.
The court’s sentence came after finding DSP Yembilla guilty of charges of reckless and reckless driving, causing damage through negligence, operating an uninsured vehicle and operating a motor vehicle without a license.
Mr Yembilla is said to have negligently caused injuries to a now deceased Aida Seyram Deku with his Toyota Highlander registration GS7387-11 at the James Town Police Station.
The court, chaired by High Court Judge Ruby Adjeley Quayson, sitting with additional responsibilities as a Circuit Court judge, sentenced Yembilla, now (retired) Superintendent of Police, after a trial of four years.
Continuing, Joshua Sackey, a state prosecutor, recounted that in December 2015, at around 9:30 a.m., DSP Yembilla was driving a Toyota Highlander with registration GS 7387-11.
Mr Sackey said the accused was driving from the Ghana National Firefighters Training School to James Town Police Station.
The prosecution said that when the accused, now convicted, attempted to enter James Town Police Station, he hit the victim who was then playing with other children.
The attorney general said the victim was seriously injured and rushed to Korle-Bu University Hospital, but died in hospital while being treated.
He said a post-mortem examination performed on the body indicated that the cause of death was a serious head injury from the crash.
The prosecution said investigations into the case indicated the Superintendent. Yembilla did not have a valid driver’s license and the vehicle was not insured.
He said the insurance policy covering the vehicle was issued on December 18, 2015, around 11:00 a.m., two hours after the accident.
In addition, the prosecution said the driver’s license of the superintendent. Yembilla was also issued on January 28, 2016, approximately six weeks after the incident.
