A 60-year-old man, Doe Fiano, has been sen­tenced to 20 years’ imprisonment by an Accra High Court for shooting and killing his wife in front of their four-year-old child.

Fiano pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was also handed an additional 10- year sentence for possessing a firearm without lawful authority.

The sentences will run concurrently, as ruled by Justice Mrs Kizita Naa Koowa Quarshie.

The tragic incident oc­curred following an argu­ment sparked by a phone call the victim, Grace Yorke Torku, received from a male acquaintance.

In response, Fiano en­tered their bedroom, re­trieved a pistol, and fatally shot her.

Originally charged with murder, Fiano opted to plead guilty to manslaugh­ter under Section 296(1) of Act 30, thereby securing a reduced sentence.

His lawyer told the court the convict had no previous criminal record, had shown remorse, and was caring for the couple’s children.

The prosecution, however, called for a minimum sen­tence of 30 years, empha­sising the emotional trauma inflicted on the four-year-old child who witnessed the killing.

It stated that what happened to the child had really affected him, also describing gunshot wounds to the victim’s head and genital area.

In sentencing, the judge took into account both aggravating and mitigating factors, including Fiano’s remorse, first-time offender status, and the need to care for his children.

According to the prosecu­tion, the Assemblyman for Okomante electoral area, Gordon Tsimese, alerted police after the incident at Taaboo Line, where Fiano was reportedly wielding a weapon and threatening passers-by.

Upon arrival, police dis­covered the victim lying in a pool of blood.

The weapon was later recovered, and an empty magazine retrieved on a follow-up visit.

Fiano was arrested at Nii Amui Park at Ashaiman through police intelligence.

On June 6, 2023, a pa­thologist at Tema General Hospital confirmed the cause of death as gunshot wounds to the head, de­scribed as unnatural. —GNA

 Once a vibrant recreational hub for children, families, students and tourists, the Efua Sutherland Chil­dren’s Park located at West Ridge in the Greater Accra Region now lies in a state of neglect.

The facility, which was a major site of attraction for school children especially on days of vacation, is now in ruins.

Visitors to the facility are now greeted with obsolete equipment and crumbling infrastructure.

Since 2019, the famous Children’s Park has been left to ‘die.’

This raises serious concerns about the nation’s commitment to preserving such public and monumental spaces.

On a visit to the facility by The Spectator, it observed that equipment mounted on the 14.83-acre playground has rusted and have become death traps, rather than the purpose for which they were mounted for visitors.

Workers were also seen busily weeding the overgrown grass and cleaning the compound.

A source at the Ministry of Gender, Women and Social Protection, the agen­cy with oversight responsibility of the facility disclosed to this Reporter that for now, very few activities were organ­ised on the park.

“It is unfortunate that the facility has turned this way. Very few people come around to make enquiries about it to hold special events. Its current state don’t make it attractive for event organisers again.”

The source added that apart from be­ing unattractive, the state of the equip­ment scares the children away because they fear they might get injured.

 By Linda Abrefi Wadie