Deeba told to bring lawyer to court (Friday, March 15, 2013, pg 3)

The Osu Magistrate’s Court has advised Deeba Acheampong, the musician facing extradition to the United Kingdom over alleged defilement and assault of his two step daughters, to find means of ensuring that his lawyer comes to court. 

“It is your case, you will have to be informed about your lawyer’s whereabout whenever there is a court date approaching,” the presiding magistrate, Mr Aboayge Tandoh advised.

This is the second time, Mr Augustine Obour, counsel for the accused had failed to appear before the Osu Magistrate’s Court in the case in which the musician is seeking to extricate himself from the clutches of extradition.

The judge told a solemn-looking Deeba, “the more he delays, the more your liberty is at stake. You should by any means be in touch and communicate with him to ensure that he comes to court”.

The last time Mr Obour failed to appear before the court, his explanation was that he was held up in another court.

Prior to becoming Deeba’s counsel, the court had advised the accused to get assistance from the Legal Aid Board to secure the services of a lawyer because of the number of adjournments due to the absence of his counsel.

Deeba is facing five counts of defilement and assault under Ghana’s laws, raping a female under the age of 13 and assaulting a minor under the United Kingdom’s laws.

The facts of the case are that in December 2012, INTERPOL Accra received a request of arrest warrant from its counterpart in London to the effect that between 2004 and 2008, while living in the UK, the accused person had a relationship with a woman who already had two daughters, aged eight and six, from her previous relationship. 

Subsequently, Deeba and the woman had two children from their union. Initially, they lived separately but when the woman went on night shift Deeba took care of the home and cared for the children.

That, the prosecutor said, continued until September 2008 when Deeba returned to Ghana to pursue his musical career. 

But two weeks after his departure from the UK, Deeba’s step-daughter told her mother that her step-father had sexual intercourse with her on several occasions whenever her mother had gone to work in the night. 

According to the prosecutor, on those occasions, Deeba invited the little girl into the bedroom to watch pornographic films with him, after which he would lay her on the bed, kiss her mouth, apply baby oil on his penis and have sex with her.

The little girl also alleged that the accused person sometimes had anal sex with her and that after each act he put a sanitary towel in her panties to avoid evidence of bloodstains and also hid his stained bed sheet.

She further alleged that Deeba threatened to beat her if she disclosed the acts to anyone.

 Deeba, the prosecutor said, assaulted the little girl’s sister between June 1 and 4, 2008 when she attempted to satisfy her inquisitiveness about what was happening to her sister and that led to a cut on the back of the girl’s head. 

A medical examination on the little girl by a forensic physician, Dr Ainsley Kassie, revealed extensive damage to her hymen as a result of vaginal penetration. 

Deeba was said to have denied the offence when he was confronted by his fiancée, who later lodged a complaint with the police, following which a warrant was issued by the Northampton-Shire Magistrate's Court for the arrest of the accused person. 

Deeba was arrested at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra during an undercover operation.

He has, however, denied the offence in his caution statement to the police.