couple jailed for killing only son

AN Ogwashi-Uku High Court in Delta State has convicted a couple for killing their only son with a gun as a result of scuffle between them.

Prosecution had told the court that one Mr. Monday Ugwu, a vigilante member at Ogwashi -Uku returned home on the 8th of April 2007 at about 6.30am from his beat to confront his pregnant wife over the whereabouts of a wheelbarrow he borrowed the previous day.

Not satisfied with the explanation from the wife, he was said to have flogged her leading to a scuffle. In the process, his wife furiously ran and took a locally-made one single barrel gun kept behind the door. She smashed it on the ground and in the process, the gun exploded and hit their only child, a four-year old ,  Chibuese Ugwu.  The boy died later that day at  the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Asaba.

Sentencing the two accused persons, on the 14th of December last year,  the presiding Judge, Justice. T.O. Diai stated that “the court has considered all the circumstances and is saddened about the events which gave rise to this charge against the accused persons, a husband and wife.

“They have lost their only son as a result of the carelessness of the 1st accused (husband) person in keeping a loaded gun behind a door in their apartment and the uncontrollable rage displayed by the 2nd accused (wife) person. Taking all these into consideration I hereby pronounce the following sentences on the accused persons. 1st accused person: sentenced to three years imprisonment. The sentence is to run from the date of remand in prison custody. 2nd accused persons: find of N5,000 or two years imprisonment with hard labour”.

From the available court record, the 1st accused person has been in custody for about three years, having jumped bail and re-arrested.