By Beatrice Oppon
The High Court in Accra has sentenced Fire Service Officer Emmanuel Ayitah Quansah to two days imprisonment.
He was found guilty of contempt after he teamed up with members of his house to beat up a bailiff of the court who had gone to serve a court process on them.
Justice Sarah Aryee said ”assault of Court Officers is on the rise and has to be nipped in the bud”.
Lawyer for Judicial Service Staff Association, Theophilus Donkor, lamented the surge in the assault of Bailiffs who are only performing their official duties.
He said in this instance case, the said Bailiff was serving a Court process on convict Ayitah Quansah when he, together with members of his house battered the Bailiff.
Mr Donkor argued that the convict being a Serving Fire Service Officer, should have known that the Bailiff was only performing his official duties, and if he had any challenge with the process or the mode of service, he should have gone to the Court for verification, and not resort to instant action.
According to the lawyer, when the Bailiff went to serve the Court process on the convict, he refused to accept the process, prompting the him to throw it at him. The action infuriated the Fire Service Officer, who then took matters into his own hands amidst claims that the Court process should have been served on him in his office.
The Judge held that the convict failed to justify his action and subsequently sentenced him.
