Driver to Be Hanged for Murdering British Missionary

A driver has been sentenced to death by hanging by the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court for murdering a 75-year-old British-American missionary, Reverend Sydney Thomas Barnes, in Nsawam in 2010.

Kofi Seidu, the condemned prisoner, was sent to the gallows by the court, presided over by Mr Justice Iddrisu Abdullah, after a seven-member jury had unanimously found him guilty of murder

The court, however, acquitted and discharged Seidu and another accused person, Rev. Goodwill Padmore, the missionary’s in-law, on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

That was after the jury had returned a verdict of ‘not guilty’ on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

Compensation

After the verdict was delivered by the jury, the lawyer for Rev. Padmore, Mr Augustine Obuor, pleaded with the court to order the state to compensate his client, who was acquitted of the charge levelled against him.

He prayed for an order of GH¢500,000 compensation for his client, who is 68 years.

According to counsel, Rev. Padmore had been on remand for the past eight years and, therefore, deserved some reprieve for the pain he had suffered while in custody.

“My Lord, my client even suffered a mild stroke, while in custody, and I believe that justice will be served if he is adequately compensated for the years his freedom was snatched from him,” Mr Obuor pleaded.

In her response, a Senior State Attorney, Ms Elizabeth Sackeyfio, submitted that Rev. Padmore was not entitled to any compensation and called on the court to reject the appeal for compensation.

Mr Justice Abdullah, in his ruling, held that in order for Rev. Padmore to lay claim to any compensation, he must make a formal application, with plausible and legally sound justification.

Facts

The prosecution said Rev. Barnes was a missionary attached to the Calvary Chapel in the United States of America (USA).

It said in 1997, Rev. Barnes came to Ghana as a missionary and established the Crossroads Christian Mission Incorporated in Koforidua in the Eastern Region.

He also established the Prestige Secretarial and Computer School in Koforidua and owned the Manna Mission Farms at Akwamu Amanfo, near Nsawam.

It said Rev. Barnes employed Seidu as a driver and farm manager and Rev. Padmore as the Principal of the Computer and Secretarial School in Koforidua.

Sometime in December 2009, Rev. Barnes took his leave and travelled to the USA, but he constantly communicated with his employees, especially Rev. Padmore.

On March 10, 2009, the prosecution said, Rev. Barnes informed Rev. Padmore that he would return to Ghana on March 18, 2010 on board a British Airways flight and asked Rev. Padmore to inform Seidu to pick him up at the KIA in the evening of March 18.

On that day, Rev. Padmore instructed Seidu to pick up Rev. Barnes, but later on Seidu called to inform Rev. Padmore that Rev. Barnes was nowhere to be found, as he was not among the passengers on board the British Airways flight.

The prosecution said from that time, the two accused persons did not receive any information on Rev. Barnes.

However, in May 2010, Rev. Barnes’s friends and partners in the US became worried about the well-being of their colleague because they had lost contact with him since he left the US.

It said through the efforts of Rev. Barnes’s friend, Donne Pouguini, a Ghanaian who lived in Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region, they managed to get in touch with Rev. Barnes’s church in Koforidua, where Rev. Barnes had met Seidu and Rev. Padmore.

It added that the two informed Pouguini that they had also lost contact with Rev. Barnes.

In June 2010, Pouguini managed to get the two to accompany him to Accra to lodge a complainant with the police, who in turn commenced investigations with publications searching for Rev. Barnes.

During the investigations, it was revealed that Rev. Barnes had flown from the USA to London with electronic ticket number 1257465295192. He had also arrived in London    and checked in at the Comfort Hotel at the Heathrow Airport.

He, however, left on March 18, 2010, using the same ticket to board a British Airways flight to Ghana.

Enquiries at the Ghana Immigration Service indicated that Rev. Barnes had checked out at the KIA about 10:03 p.m. that day.

Based on that, the prosecution said, Seidu was picked up by the police on September 26, 2010 but he denied ever picking up Rev. Barnes from the KIA.

On October 4, 2010, Seidu confessed that Rev. Barnes had been killed, adding that he (Seidu) had been persuaded by Rev. Padmore to kill the missionary in order to take away all the money he (Rev. Barnes) had brought from the USA.

Seidu, the prosecution said, mentioned that he had found $3,000 on the deceased, which he gave to Rev. Padmore, who gave him (Seidu) half of the amount.

On October 11, 2010, Seidu led a team of pathologists and police investigators to the Manna Mission Farms in Nsawam where he had buried the deceased and the body was exhumed and sent to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for autopsy.

On October 13, 2010, the autopsy conducted indicated that Rev. Barnes had died of multiple stab injuries.

Source: Graphic Online