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The Wa Circuit Court, Thursday sentenced a police constable to nine years� imprisonment for defiling a 14-year-old primary six girl. Thirty one-year-old Constable Donald Appiah, who admitted the offence at his first appearance, licked his lips intermittently, while staring hard at the packed courtroom, as the presiding judge, Mr I.B. Akwantey, pronounced the sentence. His fellow accused persons, Corporal Joseph Kwakoh and Constable George Tanoe, who have also been charged with defilement of the same girl, are to reappear before the court on August 7. The two have pleaded not guilty to the charge. Before sentence was pronounced, counsel for the convict, Mr Bernard Anbangbio Nakaar, pleaded with the court to be lenient with his client, since he had owned up to the offence and shown remorse already. A judge�s duty Passing sentence, the judge said he took into consideration �the profuse pleas for mercy� by counsel and the fact that Appiah was a first-time offender and had not wasted the court�s time. �But I have a duty to consider the nature of the offence, the circumstances of the victim, the expectations of society and the standing of the accused as a policeman,� Mr Akwantey said. According to the judge, the act of the convict was, to say the least, reprehensible, considering his station and his circumstances, especially as a policeman. �Let me commend the Police High Command for not shielding the accused but allowing the law to take its course. �The Police Service is a human institution. As their numbers increase, some miscreants may find their way into its ranks. Our ability to deal with situations of this kind will determine how far we can progress as a very important institution of the state. �We are living in a society where sometimes we allow our emotions to take control over situations, to the extent that sometimes accused persons get compassion from the public more than the victims of the offence, probably due to our alien legal system. �As a judge, I have no delight in incarcerating people, but when duty calls we have to carry through the oath that we have sworn to do justice to all manner of people, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will,� he added. Background Constable Appiah, together with Corporal Kwakoh and Constable Tanoe, was charged with defilement of the 14-year-old last week. The prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Owusu Bempah, told the court that on June 24, this year, the victim�s father reported to the police that someone whose name he gave as Olly and who resided at one of the suburbs of Wa, had defiled his daughter. He said while the police were searching for the alleged culprit, the girl left home on the night of June 30 under the pretext of going to ease herself but never returned. He said on July 5, the father reported to the police that the girl had been found loitering around the precincts of the Wa Polytechnic, and when she was sent to the police station, she mentioned the names of the three as those who had abducted her and defiled her during the period she had been away. During investigations, he said, Constable Appiah admitted to the offence, while Corporal Kwakoh and Constable Tanoe both denied the act.