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A fisherman, Kweku Blessing who was jailed for biting off the left ear of his friend has been released from prison.
Crime Check Foundation (CCF) paid Blessing’s fine of One Thousand Four Hundred and Forty Ghana cedis to get him his freedom under the CCF Petty Offenders Project.
Narrating what led him to prison, Blessing said he went to one of his debtors to whom he had sold fish for his money.
He said he did not meet his debtor but met her son when he went to her house.
Blessing said when he inquired from the debtor’s son about the whereabouts of his mother, he (the debtor’s son) confronted him asking him to leave the house amidst threats.
Kweku Blessing said he constrained himself not to retaliate but his friend whom he used to respect continued to threaten him.
He told crimecheckghana.org that when he was leaving, his unrestrained buddy followed up outside the house and attacked him.
“When I left the house, a woman met me outside and asked me what the problem was. When I was explaining the issue to her, the debtor’s son followed up and continued the confrontation. He hit me first and I also tried to hit him back resulting in a fight between us. He held me and wanted to strangle me to the ground but I also refused. In his effort to get me down, he bit my hand and I also held his ears firmly with my teeth unknowingly because I was in pain,” he said.
Eventually, according to Blessing, when the debtor’s son felt the pain and tried to free himself, he pulled himself forcefully and his ear got stuck in his mouth.
“He did not notice his ear had been bitten off. I also did not realize that it was in my mouth. It was later I saw the ear when I spat it out of my mouth,” he said.
Kweku Blessing said he regretted his actions and asked for forgiveness from his victim.
But that he said did not stop his arrest. He said he was arraigned before court and was fined One Thousand Four Hundred and Forty Ghana cedis.
Blessing said he defaulted in paying the fine, which led to his imprisonment at the Ankaful Main Prison for a year.
With support from a group donor, Champions of Prayer Zions Ministry, CCF went to his aid and paid his fine for his release.
Aside paying the fines of petty offenders, Crime Check Foundation (CCF) has introduced programmes including the latest ‘Stay Away From Trouble’ as part of its crime prevention advocacy project.
Through these programmes, CCF cautions the general public against acts that could land them in trouble.
The Foundation screens one-on-one interviews with prison inmates bringing to bear acts that got them into prison and the difficulties they face in custody.
It has also paid the fines of many petty offenders for their release and integrated them into society.
It said all the suspects and others who would be arrested in the course of investigations and found culpable would be arraigned.
