The Takoradi Harbour Circuit Court A presided over by His Honor Michael Cudjoe Ampadu has adjourned to Thursday, November 11, the case involving Josephine Panyin Mensah, who made headlines last month for going missing while purportedly pregnant.
The suspect represented by Lawyer Philip Fiifi Buckman reappeared in court today after she was granted a 50,000 Ghana Cedis bail on her first appearance in court on Monday, September 27, 2021, after pleading not guilty to the charges of deceiving a public officer and publication of false news with intent to cause fear and panic.
However, court proceedings could not go on as expected owing to the fact that the prosecution could not furnish the court the full documents they would rely on for trial and also the substantive prosecutor could not appear before the court thus pushing the court to adjourn the case.
Background
Josephine Panyin Mensah was in the news after she was reported to have been kidnapped during a dawn walk her nine-month-old pregnancy.
She resurfaced a week later at Axim in the Western Region without her alleged pregnancy or baby.
She had claimed that she delivered the same day she went missing and that the kidnappers had stolen her baby.
The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah subsequently claimed Josephine was not pregnant as reported, a claim subsequently corroborated by the Ghana Police Service.
Police conducted two separate medical tests on Josephine at different hospitals, with both reports proving that she was never pregnant.
Josephine’s relatives and neighbours however disagreed with the report of the Ghana Police Service.
She was later arrested and charged by the Takoradi Police.
She pleaded not guilty to two charges of Deceiving a public officer: contrary to section 251(b) of the criminal offences Act 1960(Act 29) and Publication of false news with intent to cause fear and alarm to the public contrary to section 208(1) of the criminal offences Act 2960(Act 29) levelled against her by the police.
She was granted a GHC50,000 bail with two sureties to be justified.
