One of the 14 persons accused of the murder of the late Major Maxwell Mahama, has admitted to hitting the head of the deceased military officer with a block during his brutal lynching in 2017.
Akwasi Baah led in evidence by his counsel to present his evidence-in-chief, however, told an Accra High Court on Tuesday that the late soldier was already dead when he smashed his head with the cement block.
Led by George Bernard Shaw, the accused according to a report by Dailyguidenetwork.com sighted by GhanaWeb, informed the court that he was not present at the scene when the mob attacked Major Mahama but later arrived at the scene when he had been beaten to death.
The suspect said he had been a robbery victim a day prior to the incident and that upon arriving at the scene of the lynching, he realised that the deceased was wearing a boot similar to that which one his assailants wore during the robbery he suffered.
Akwasi Baah told the court that while he was travelling from Dunkwa-on-Offin to Obuasi on May 28, 2017, the car he was onboard run into a gang of armed robbers.
He said the road had been barricaded by robbers carrying weapons adding that the robbers hijacked the vehicle, commanded everyone to step down and later searched all the passengers on board the vehicle.
He narrated that while he was at home the next day, he heard a noise and was informed that an armed robber had shot a young man in the foot and he had been taken to the clinic so he decided to go to the clinic to find out if the person was his relative.
He left the clinic upon finding out that the young man was not related to him and ten minutes after leaving the clinic, he heard an armed robber had been killed so he went to the scene where the incident occurred.
The suspect said he found at the scene the very gun that was used to rob him the previous day and also saw the deceased wearing the same boots that was used in kicking him during the robbery.
“This made me pick up a block and hit the deceased,” he recounted.
Chief State Attorney, Frances Mullen Ansah who led the prosecution during the cross-examination of the suspect, replayed a video of the gruesome lynching of the deceased in court.
Akwasi Baah while under questioning by the prosecution, identified himself as the person who smashed the head of the late Major Mahama who lay motionless at the time.
The suspect admitted that due to the heavy weight of the block, he had to carry it with his two hands but denied that he smashed the head of the deceased soldier on purpose.