Lebanese man pointed gun at my head – Witness tells court

Charles Otoo, the victim of a gunshot, has told the Circuit Court in Accra how a 59-year-old Lebanese man Anthony Simon Saoud pointed a gun at his head upon honouring an invitation from his ex-girlfriend.

Charles Otoo, who is testifying as the first prosecution witness in the case in which Anthony Saoud and his son Kevin Saoud are standing trial for conspiracy and causing harm, said the accused persons “planned to harm me.”

Responding to questions from one of the defence lawyers during cross-examination, the witness said, “I believed they (accused persons) planned to harm me.”

The witness also told the court that, even though he did not know the accused persons prior to the incident, he believed they had some knowledge about him.

Charles Otoo also told the court that he saw the accused persons all come out from the room of one Sir Oscar, whom he had struggled with in a manner that showed it was a planned thing.

“I saw the accused person come from the room of Sir Oscar…. I saw Anthony Simon Saoud with a gun. When he came, he pointed a gun at my head,” the witness told the Circuit Court presided over by Her Honour Ellen Offei Ayeh.

The witness also disagreed with counsel’s suggestion that the accused persons only came to the scene to separate a misunderstanding he the witness had with one Sir Oscar, who had asked why he came to the apartment when he had earlier been warned not to come there.

Mr. Charles Otoo, who responded that he had not been warned by anybody not to come to the apartment, also said the accused persons assaulted him before dragging him from the fourth floor to the ground floor.

The witness also told the court that the gun pointed at him made him scared and begged the accused persons to free him.

“I have two hands and four people on me is hard to deal with. The presence of the guns weakened me more. I was rather begging them together with my ex-girlfriend to allow me leave their premises,” he told the court.

The witness also pointed out to the court some inconsistencies in the brief facts presented to the court by the police prosecution when those issues were put to him in the witness box.

The case has been adjourned to November 14, 2022, for continuation.

Charges

Charles Otoo, the victim, also told the court that, during the attack, they dragged him and locked him up in a dark room and overheard them saying they would kill him.

Kelvin Saoud, 29, and his father Simon Anthony Saoud, 59, have been charged together with conspiracy to cause harm, while Kelvin Saoud was separately charged with causing harm and discharging a firearm without lawful authority.

They have both pleaded not guilty to their respective charges and have been granted bail.