The Accra High Court has revealed the factors considered before handing Akuapem Poloo her jail sentence.
The actress born Rosemond Brown was sentenced to 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to the charges of publication of obscene materials, engaging in domestic violence namely conduct that in any way undermines another person’s privacy or integrity and engaging in domestic violence namely conduct that in any way detract from another person’s dignity and worth as a human being.
The decision of the court to give the actress a custodial sentence has been met with mixed reactions from Ghanaians – with a section supporting it and others against.
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But the court, days after the sentence, has released the full court document and has listed the 13 factors considered before a custodial sentence was handed to her.
Below are the reasons:
The intrinsic seriousness of the offences charged
The gravity of the offences charged
The degree of revulsion felt by law-abiding citizens of this country for the crimes committed
The premeditation with which the criminal plans were executed.
The prevalence of the crime within the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and the country generally
The sudden increase in the incidence of these crimes
The age of the accused person’s son and the trauma he is going through in a society where counseling for victims of such criminal act is almost non-existent.
The court also took into consideration in imposing the sentence, the following mitigating factors.
The fact that the accused person pleaded guilty to the offences thereby not wasting the time of the court.
The accused person’s apology on social media after the publication of the nude photograph together with her son.
The accused person’s show of remorse.
The fact that the accused person has had no brush with the law.
The fact that the accused person is a single parent and a mother to a seven-year-old child
The fact that the accused person is the sole breadwinner of her family.
“Equally taken into consideration is the counsel for the accused person’s plea for leniency and mitigation,” the court document read.
Meanwhile, the court document shows that counsel for the accused pleaded for a non-custodial sentence for his client.
He gave the court some reasons including the fact that she was a first-time offender and thus needed to be given the chance to reform, pleading guilty and showing remorse since day one and thereby not wasting the court’s time and the effect of a custodial sentence on her son, her status as a young budding actress who is the sole provider of her family.
“She is the sole breadwinner of her family, having come from a hard or poverty stricken family to reach the level that she has reached. The convict takes care of her mother, two nephews, and her son with her hard-earned money,” parts of his statement reads.
He prayed the court also considers her charity works including donations and paying the fees of some students in her alma mater Suhum Roman Catholic School.
Two friends of the court also prayed against a custodial sentence for the accused.