Man guns down cousin

Dawurampong, (Cenral region) -- A 21-YEAR-OLD man who accidentally killed his cousin while hunting at Gomoa Nduem in the Central Region has been fined ?300,000.

Kojo Egyir, who has already compensated the deceased?s relatives with over ?3 million after staying in prison custody since the incident last year, would serve five months in default.

He pleaded not guilty, saying he had left the deceased on the road after sighting an antelope in the bush and therefore did not see how the deceased got hit by a stray bullet some 30 yards away from where the shot game lay in the bush.

The judge, Mr Paul Kwesi Richardson, however, noted that Egyir ought to have been a bit more careful before pressing the trigger.

Inspector E. A. Agyemang of the Dawurampong Police told the court that Egyir went to farm with his cousin, Kobina Apow, on May 8, 2001, at Nduem.

He said on their way back home they spotted an antelope and gave it a hot chase. He said in the process, the deceased took a different direction in order to cross the antelope.

The prosecution said Egyir, who was then armed with a single-barrelled shot-gun, took another direction and on seeing the antelope in the bush shot at it, killing it.

However, when he went to collect the game he found the deceased in a pool of blood, dead a short distance from the game.

The prosecutor said Egyir carried the deceased home and reported himself to the police at Dawurampong where he was arrested and detained for investigations to be conducted.