Secretary ordered to sign bond

A 31-year-old secretary who splashed soft-drink from a glass onto the face of her ex-husband during a discussion has been ordered to sign a bond to be of good behaviour or in default be jailed six months imprisonment in hard labour.

The woman, Linda Holdsbrooks, appeared before Takoradi Circuit Court "A" on Tuesday and was charged with assault. She pleaded guilty.

Police Sergeant Ben Annor, prosecuting, told the court that on May 19 this year, Linda and her ex-husband, Mr. Victor Saah Quainoo, a banker at the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), got divorced and the court which adjudicated their case empowered Linda's counsel, Mr. John Burke, to settle the issue of custody of their two children and also compensation to be given to Linda.

He said a meeting was arranged by Mr. John Burke on May 27, this year, at the Takoradi Raybow Hotel to settle the issue.

According to the prosecutor, in the course of the meeting, Mr. Quainoo quoted Five Hundred Ghana Cedis (GH¢500) as his compensation package for Linda, but the figure did not go down well with Linda who started exchanging words with Mr. Quainoo.

In the course of the altercation, Linda took a glass of soft-drink which was before her and poured it on Quainoo's face and dress.

Sergeant Annor said it took the timely intervention of Mr. Burke and some staff of the hotel to prevent the situation from going out of hand.

Consequently, the meeting was called off and when Mr. Quainoo was leaving the hotel premises in his car, the prosecutor said, Linda went and stood in front of the car and banged the bonnet. Again, the hotel staff had to intervene to save an ugly situation.

He said Mr. Quainoo later lodged a complaint with the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) office at Sekondi and Linda was arrested. She admitted the offence in her caution statement.

The prosecutor said, after Linda was released on bail, she went to Mr. Quainoo's office at the Sekondi Ghana Commercial Bank and started raining insults on him. The Branch Manager of the bank who got disturbed about the situation, notified personnel of the DOVVSU, but Linda quickly left the banking hall before the police could arrive.

In his judgement, the presiding judge; Mr Kwasi Boakye, found Linda guilty on her own plea and ordered her to sign a bond to be of good behaviour or in default would serve six months imprisonment in hard labour.