She accused her housemaid of stealing her belongings, including $10,000 in cash, before running away.
Sarah said she returned to find her room in disarray and immediately suspected foul play.
After reviewing CCTV footage from her estate’s control room, she discovered that her neighbour had used his access card to help the maid leave the estate after security initially stopped her.
She has since confronted the neighbor and involved the police to help track down the maid and recover her stolen money.
A 56-year-old professional nurse, Clara Yanyi-Ampah, employed as a caregiver atHappy Bloomers School in Agbogba, has been handed a five-year prison term for the tragic death of an 11-month-old infant.
Yanyi-Ampah, in a plea bargain with the Attorney-General’s office, admitted guilt to manslaughter.
Under the terms of the agreement, both sides upheld the manslaughter charge and jointly proposed a five-year sentence of hard labor.
In accordance with Section 162 (h) of the Plea-Bargaining Act 1079, the court sought clarification from the convicted individual before delivering the sentence.
Senior State Attorney Mercy Arthur and defense counsel Richard Asare Baffour both affirmed their agreement to the court.
Initially maintaining her innocence, Yanyi-Ampah changed her plea in light of the agreement.
Following Justice Marie-Louise Simmons’ confirmation of the agreement, the court proceeded to formally impose the sentence.
By Court
Justice Marie-Louise Simmons after listening to the parties said “On the basis of the plea of guilty of the offence of manslaughter, the accused is convicted on her own plea and sentenced to five (5) years imprisonment.
In sentencing, “the Court has considered the eight months the accused spent in custody upon her arrest in May 2021 till she was granted bail.
“I have also considered the benefit of the plea deal which has shortened the trial and reduced the burden on both the Prosecution and the Court.”
The court said the accused (now convict) is also not known to the law and seems to have shown remorse.
However, the Court said, “her reckless act of neglect of the baby and non-chantant attitude after feeding her until another teacher found the baby unresponsive was indeed a reckless disregard for human life, hence the sentence meted out.”
Brief facts
As per the case’s summary, Randy and Patricia Ackah-Mensah, a married couple, are the complainants. They are the parents of Allegra Camille Yaba Ackah-Mensah, an 11-month-old girl who attended Happy Bloomers School in North Legon, Accra.
According to the information provided, Allegra was enrolled at the school on April 6, 2021.
The accused individual, Clara Yanyi-Ampah, a 56-year-old alleged professional nurse, was employed as a caregiver at Happy Bloomers School.
The Prosecution asserted that Yanyi-Ampah was entrusted with the care of baby Allegra along with two other children at the school.
“On May 18, 2021, baby Allegra who had turned 11 months old that morning, went to school in good health.
“At about 2:50 pm Madam Gladys Osei, a teacher at the school passed through the changing room and tried playing with Allegra whilst the accused was changing her clothes, but she found her to be unresponsive,” the Prosecution stated.
It said she asked the accused person who was attending to Allegra if the baby was asleep, and she responded in the negative.
Gladys promptly notified the school administrator, who swiftly transported Allegra to North Legon Hospital.
The Prosecution reported that around 3:07 pm, Randy received a call from the school administrator informing him that his daughter was unwell and had been taken to North Legon Hospital for medical treatment. Consequently, Randy contacted his wife, and they both proceeded to the hospital.
“The medical report indicated that Allegra was unresponsive with no heartbeat or pulse and all efforts to resuscitate her proved futile, so she was pronounced clinically dead.
“Prior to changing Allegra’s clothes, the accused person had fed her,” it said.
“A CCTV footageobtained from the school after Allegra’s death showed that the accused person pulled the hands of Allegra to her back and poured food down her throat with a cup.
“According to the school’s policy on feeding, toddlers Allegra’s age are fed with spoons.
“The school indicated that the cup the accused used in feeding baby Allegra belonged to the accused.”
Post mortem
“The post-mortem report indicated that Allegra’s trachea and bronchi and left lungs were filled with food particles. The pathologist concluded that the cause of death was asphyxiation due to aspiration of food following forced feeding.
The accused individual faced charges of manslaughter, as outlined in section 50 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, Act 29. Subsequently, she was brought before the Criminal Division of the High Court in Accra for trial.
The Ghana Police Service (GPS) has advised the public to directly share Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage of criminal activities with the service rather than posting it on social media.
The GPS believes that this collaborative approach will enhance its investigative efforts and contribute to the swift apprehension of perpetrators, ensuring that they are not left at large.
In an interview on Face to Face on Citi TV Tuesday, ACP Grace Ansah-Akrofi, the Director of the Public Affairs Directorate of the Ghana Police Service, emphasized the mutual benefits of such a strategy.
She highlighted that sharing CCTV footage directly with the police would expedite the investigative process and enhance the chances of bringing perpetrators to justice.
“In the event of any incident, instead of circulating the CCTV footage, they should first share it with the police to help in our investigations. Sometimes, putting it out there makes our investigative efforts difficult because if you are a suspect and you know that there is footage of you, it reveals your identity and the like.”
“So we want to entreat everybody; in case there is an incident, please share it with the police instead of putting it out there,” she said.
New information has recently surfaced regarding a brutal robbery that occurred in Ablekuma, Accra on Thursday.
Tragically, during the incident, a police officer was fatally attacked while guarding a bullion van.
According to the Ghana Police Service, an intensive manhunt is underway to locate a gang of four robbers who targeted a vehicle at a filling station situated in Ablekuma Fanmilk.
The driver of the van escaped unhurt.
Hours after the incident the CCTV footage of the whole incident has been made public.
From the video, the plan was executed in less than a minute as four men rode on two motorbikes which ambushed the van in broad daylight.
CCTV Footage from the robbery today which claimed the life of one Police officer.
Afterbeing confronted about riding on the pavement, a 77-year-old cyclist fell into the path of a car, leading to the conviction of a partially-sighted, cerebrally-impaired pedestrian for manslaughter.
Celia Ward, a retired midwife, was confronted by Auriol Grey, 49, in a “hostile and aggressive way,” after which she stumbled into the path of a speeding car.
The moment Grey yelled at Mrs. Ward to “get off the [expletive] pavement” was caught on camera and played to Peterborough Crown Court in Cambridge.
A VW Passat strikes Mrs. Ward after she appears to stumble off the pavement and into the traffic in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. After being found guilty of manslaughter, Grey of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, will be sentenced on March 2.
The court heard the two women passed each other in opposite directions on the pavement of the town’s ring road pavement on October 20, 2020.
The prosecution claimed Grey was “angered by the presence of a cyclist on a footpath”.
Prosecutor Simon Spence KC said Grey shouted at Mrs Ward and “gestured in a hostile and aggressive way towards” her, causing her to fall off the bike and into the road, where she was hit by an oncoming car.
Jurors heard the vehicle had no chance to stop or take avoiding action and Mrs Ward died at the scene.
The court heard Grey left prior to emergency services arriving and went to Sainsbury’s where she bought groceries.
In a police interview, Grey, who has cerebral palsy, told officers she was partially sighted and described the pedal cycle as travelling “fast” in the centre of the pavement.
She stated she was “anxious that I was going to get hit by it”, adding she “may have unintentionally put” out her hand to protect herself.
But after being shown the CCTV footage, interviewing officer Det Sgt Mark Dollard asked her why she said what she said, to which she responded: “I don’t know.”
The court was told the police could not “categorically” state whether the pavement was a shared cycleway.
“Everyone will have their own views on cyclists, pavements and cycleways but what is clear is Auriol Grey’s response to the presence of Celia on a pedal cycle was totally disproportionate and ultimately found to be unlawful, resulting in Celia’s untimely and needless death.
“I am pleased with the verdict and hope it is a stark reminder to all road users to take care and be considerate to each other.
“I want to take the time to acknowledge Celia’s family and thank them for their patience and dignity throughout the entirety of the investigation and trial.”
The gang used guns, knives, hammers and crowbars to terrorise staff before fleeing in a fleet of stolen vehicles and leaving few clues behind them.
When banknotes got stained by security dye, they laundered the cash through fixed-odds betting terminals in bookmakers’ shops.
They took advantage of a system that allowed punters to load a machine with up to £3,000 cash, make one small bet and then collect their unspent stake in fresh notes from the shop’s cash till.
They burnt piles of stained banknotes and a car that got sprayed when they smashed open one cash box and triggered the dye security system.
Armed police ambushed two robbers – Abdi Omar and Brooklyn McFarlane – as they were about to attack security guards at a local Sainsbury’s in Wimbledon. Omar was caught quickly, while McFarlane ran and pulled a knife and was shot by police who believed he was carrying a gun. He was discharged from hospital the next day.
The gang were caught after an astonishing bit of detective work by the Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad who, from poor quality CCTV footage, managed to identify and track one of their stolen cars and the first of the robbers who eventually led them to the rest.
‘The violence was extreme’
Detective Superintendent Simon Moring said: “They had a well-organised gang structure. They displayed a really good tradecraft, using stolen vehicles, cloned number plates, they knew a lot about police tactics, used good anti-surveillance techniques, so that they knew what they were doing. They were a forceful gang.
“The violence was extreme, security guards thrown around, hit with iron bars, guns held to their heads. Thankfully no one got seriously hurt. They would have just carried on committing robberies and who knows where and how it would have ended.”
Image: The gang used weapons to terrorise staff
Image: A member of the gang brandishes a gun
The gang attacked guards at cash points in London, Oxford, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, usually congregating and travelling from an estate in South London. Armed with loaded handguns and other weapons they wore ballistic body armour and balaclavas. Over 18 months they stole more than £400,000.
Image: Clockwise from top left: Ola Orulebaja, Ihab Ashaoui, Adam Salman, Brooklyn McFarlane, Abdi Omar, Mahdi Hashi, Basil Abdul-Latif, Noaman Amin, Ibrahim Lyazi, David Tesfaalem
Two robbers arrested after crashing into bus
The first two robbers identified were arrested after jumping a red light and crashing into a bus. They ran off but were chased and caught by a team of detectives who were trailing them.
While awaiting trial the two shared a cell in Wandsworth prison and police later discovered they had a smuggled mobile phone and used it to coordinate more robberies committed by those yet to be caught.
Image:The first two robbers identified were arrested after jumping a red light and crashing into a bus
The sentences
In the first of two trials Basil Abdul-Latif, 36, from South London, the gang’s leader, was jailed for 22 years for conspiracies to rob, possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and handle stolen goods and arson.
A second main gang member David Tesfaalem, 30, from South London, was jailed for 20 years for similar offences.
Ibrahim Lyazi, 29, from west London, got 18 years and two others, Ihab Ashaoui, 30, and Adam Salman, 32, were each jailed for 14 years. Ola Orulebaja was jailed for 13 years.
Image:The gang used guns in the robberies
Image: One of the burnt-out cars
Detective Constable Stephen O’Connell from the Flying Squad said: “This was an immensely complex investigation involving a huge amount of evidence. The group caused havoc in and outside London with buildings being severely damaged and high-value goods being stolen.
“These men have since discovered that crime does not pay and thanks to the complex investigative work by the Flying Squad they will instead be spending time behind bars. Investigations continue to track down and bring to justice outstanding suspects who are believed to be involved in these offences.”
Four other men, all from south London, were awaiting sentence today after being convicted for their roles in the robbery conspiracy. They were: Brooklyn McFarlane and Abdi Omar, both 27, Mahdi Hashi, 29, and Noaman Amin, 26.
Prior to the arrest, police released CCTV footage of a suspect in the killing spree, and said the crimes could be the work of a serial killer “on a mission”.
A man suspected of killing six people in a string of murders in California has been arrested by police while “out hunting” for his next victim.
Wesley Brownlee was driving in the city of Stockton, where five of the murders took place, and was armed with a handgun when he was stopped by police officers in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Investigators had been tracking the 43-year-old after receiving tips from members of the public.
“Based on tips coming into the department and Stockton Crime Stoppers, we were able to zero in on a possible suspect,” Police Chief Stanley McFadden said.
“Our surveillance team followed this person while he was driving. We watched his patterns and determined, early this morning, he was on a mission to kill.”
Mr McFadden added that Brownlee was detained after engaging in what appeared to be threatening behaviour, including going to parks and dark places, stopping and looking around before driving on.
He was dressed in black, had a mask around his neck, had a gun, and “was out hunting”, the police chief said.
A police photo showed the weapon allegedly carried by the suspect, which appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun containing some non-metallic materials.
Brownlee is accused of shooting dead six men and wounding a womanin an 18-month killing spree in the Stockton and Oakland areas.
Image:Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden speaks during a news conference
Who were the victims?
Juan Vasquez Serrano, 39, was the first victim to be killed in Oakland on 10 April 2021.
Just six days later, 46-year-old Natasha LaTour was shot in Stockton but managed to survive after scaring off her attacker by walking toward them.
More than a year later, the killer struck again, shooting dead Paul Yaw, 35, on 8 July, then Salvador Debudey on 11 August, followed by 21-year-old Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez on 30 August and 52-year-old Juan Cruz on 21 September.
Image:Paul Yaw was the first of the Stockton victims to die. Pic: Greta Bogrow the most recent victim was 54-year-old Lawrence Lopez, who died on 27 September.
Police believe the same person was responsible for all the shootings, with ballistics tests and video evidence linking the crimes together.
There was a $125,000 (£109,000) reward available for information leading to an arrest.
Image:Lorenzo Lopez, the most recent victim, died on 27 September Pic: Jerry Lopez Family
Police said Brownlee has a criminal history and is believed to have also lived in several cities near Stockton, but they did not give further details.
Investigators have been trying to identify a motive for the attacks, with none of the victims appearing to have little in common.
Some of the victims were homeless, but not all. None were beaten or robbed, and the woman who survived said her attacker didn’t say anything.
