TRIAL OF 2 UK GIRLS BEGINS

By William Yaw Owusu
Thursday, 19 July 2007
SCORES of people, including journalists, yesterday defied an early downpour and thronged an Accra Fast Track High Court in Accra where two British teenage girls were initially arraigned for attempted exportation of cocaine to the United Kingdom.

But the journalists, both from the local and foreign media, were particularly disappointed when they were told by court officials that they could not cover the proceedings because the girls were juveniles.

In Ghana, there are no physical structures specifically designated as juvenile courts but the Criminal Justice System allows the creation of one when the need arises.

In this regard, any courtroom could be used as a juvenile court and proceedings there are always in camera.

The juvenile court is normally handled by a three-member panel including a social worker, and presided over by a magistrate.

The court has jurisdiction to try offences committed by people who are under 18 years (minors).

As early as 8 am, the two girls both 16 who are of Cypriot and Nigerian parentage, respectively, were brought by officials of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) and kept in Cell One of the Fast Track Court.

The two girls had covered their faces with their jackets.

The court, presided over by Justice Frank Manu, routinely discharged them at the request of the prosecution and the case was handed over to the Juvenile Court which commenced proceedings immediately on the same charges.

When the Juvenile Court took over, Evelyn Keelson, a State Attorney, told the panel that the prosecution needed one week to conduct thorough investigations, including a report of a forensic test of the substance by the Ghana Standards Board.

Their pleas were not taken and they were remanded into police custody until July 26.

The two were arrested at the Kotoka International Airport by NACOB on July 2, allegedly with a total of six kilogrammes of suspected cocaine hidden in their laptop computer bags, each of which allegedly contained three kilogrammes of the substance.