A dramatic courtroom climax unfolded in Tarkwa when illegal mining operative, Bismark Owusu, was handed a one-year prison sentence with hard labour after savagely slashing a student twice across the back with a sharp blade at Bompieso in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality.
Owusu, who admitted to the charge of causing unlawful harm, stood before the Tarkwa District Court One, where the case was overseen by His Worship Charles Owusu Nsiah.
According to the prosecution, led by Inspector Patrick Essien, the victim — Bright Akwasi Aboagye — is a student living in Bompieso. On October 7, shortly after midday, Bright was riding a tricycle with a friend named Ishmael when they encountered a tense and chaotic scene: a mob of illegal miners had seized a young man, accusing him of stealing gold-bearing stones, and were mercilessly beating him.
Owusu was among the enraged group. In an act of courage, the student stepped in and struck one of the attackers in an attempt to stop the assault — an intervention that instantly turned the miners’ fury toward him.
The miners threatened him, warning him to walk away. Insulted and angered, Owusu picked a fight with Bright and Ishmael, but the confrontation was eventually broken up and the parties dispersed.
The day’s peace did not last.
Later that evening at a game centre, Owusu confronted the pair again, vowing that the earlier clash was far from finished. Moments later, he launched a violent and vengeful attack — lunging at the student and slicing his back twice with a blade before fleeing as blood poured from the deep wounds.
Shocked residents rushed the bleeding victim to the Bompieso Clinic, where he received urgent medical care before filing a police report.
Owusu was arrested that same day and handed over to authorities, sealing his fate in court.
The sentence, the court declared, stands as a stern warning to those who terrorise communities under the shadow of illegal mining violence.
