Outrage as Ghanaian is choked to death by Finland Police on Helsinki street

A Ghanaian, Samuel Dolphyne who is a resident in Austria has died in Finland on Saturday 18th November, after he was choked to death by Finland police for alleged drunk driving, MyNewsGh.com has confirmed.

Dolphyne had come from Austria to visit his friend in Finland and he had planned to return on Sunday morning, some hours after his demise.

The incident happened around 23.30 on Saturday 18 November in Helsinki, Finland after the deceased and his friend Kwaku Ofori, had gone to a mini Christmas party organised by the Eastern Region (Koforidua) Association of Finland.

Narrating what happened in the car that night, Ofori, who was in the same car with the Samuel Dolphyne said that after they were stopped by the Finland police, Dolphyne was asked to blow into the alcoholometer, which he did.

The police then asked him to blow into it the second time and he did again. The police then asked him how much alcohol he has consumed, to which he replied “one bottle of beer”.

The police then turned to Kwaku Ofori to confirm the deceased’s story. Ofori says he confirmed that he only saw the deceased drink just a bottle of beer.

According to Ofori, Dolphyne voluntarily stepped out of the car and approached the police. “I thought he was going to plead with the police”, he said.

After a while, Ofori who was still sitting in the car, also stepped down to check why the deceased has kept long. Ofori recalls Dolphyne lying on the ground with the two policemen on top of him trying to handcuff him.

According to Ofori, the deceased was shouting for help. “He was shouting and calling my name: Ofori! Ofori! they are killing me! I can’t breathe! I have asthma!”, Ofori recalled.

MyNewsGh.com learnt Ofori that who was about 5 meters from the scene shouted at the police to release the Dolphyne but the police did not listen and held him down and continued to handcuff the until he went unconscious and silent.

A local newspaper in Finland, Ilta Sanomat reported that the now confirmed dead Dolphyne, who left behind a young daughter, was aggressive towards the police.

Ofori however disputes this. Ofori says that what he saw on the ground was a dying man fighting for his life with no sign of aggression.

Furthermore, Ofori claims that by the time the deceased lost consciousness, only one of his hands was cuffed, contrary to what the newspaper reported.

The newspaper also claimed that Dolphyne, was aggressive and refused to blow into the alcoholometer when he was stopped by the police. He was then handcuffed by the police to keep him calm.

Ofori however said this is untrue, as he witnessed Samuel Dolphyne blow into the alcoholometer twice, and not once did he attempt to argue or raise his voice.

MyNewsGh.com has confirmed from a source close to the Vice President of the Ghana union of Finland, Patrick Osei-Gyimah, however that before Dolphyne lost consciousness, he was shouting for help that he could not breathe and that he was asthmatic but the police ignored him.

According to him, investigation into his death is still ongoing but the news has shocked the Ghanaian community in Finland especially those who saw the deceased at the party before his untimely death.

Some described his posture at the party as very calm. According to Osei-Gyimah, the Ghana union of Finland is working to get in touch with Dolphyne’s relatives in Austria and Ghana to inform them of the sad event.