The Supreme Court yesterday awarded a GH¢45,000 compensation to Eric Asante, an acquitted 40-year-old teacher who was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for allegedly defiling and impregnating one of his pupils.
The teacher was seeking a compensation in excess of GH¢7.1 million from the state for the 13 years that he wrongfully spent in jail for a crime he did not commit.
But the apex court, which at the beginning of hearing told the teacher that compensation is not meant to turn him into a millionaire, rejected the amount he was demanding and rather awarded him what it thought was due him.
According to the court, the teacher could not provide any evidence to show that his incarceration had caused him mental damages, psychological and emotional trauma and investment losses for which he was demanding the GH¢7.1 million as compensation.
However, apart from the compensation, the court, presided over by Justice Anin Yeboah with Sule Gbadegbe, Paul Baffoe Bonney, Gabriel Pwamang and Yaw Appau assisting, ordered the government to pay the teacher his salaries covering the 13 years that he was incarcerated.
Mr Eric Asante, who was then teaching in the Northern Region, was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment in hard labour in 2015 for allegedly defiling a 14-year-old pupil in his class.
He was however, acquitted in January 2016 by the Supreme Court, following an appeal after a DNA test carried out on the baby – believed to be the product of the alleged defilement – had proved that he was not the father of the child.
Prior to his acquittal, he was granted bail by the apex court in 2015 based on good conduct, having served two-thirds of his jail term.
He subsequently went to the Supreme Court seeking for ompensation from the state for the number of years he spent in jail.
Disappointment
Lawyer for the teacher, Victor Opoku, expressed disappointment in the ‘paltry’ amount that was paid to his client as compensation after wrongfully spending 13 years in jail.
He was not particularly enthused that the court threw away all their claims when the state had “completely destroyed a young person’s life for over 13 years and get away with only GH¢45,000.”
BY Gibril Abdul Razak