Nurse jailed five years for manslaughter

A 56-year-old trained nurse has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for causing the death of an 11-month-old child in May 2021.

The convict, Clara Yanyi-Ampah, initially pleaded not guilty but changed her plea to guilty after reaching a plea-bargaining agreement with the Attorney General’s Office and was charged with murder but upon advice of the Attorney General, a charge of manslaughter was brought against her, and she was made to stand trial in the High Court.

Facts according to prosecution, led by Senior State Attorney Mercy Arthur, indicate that, the complainants were a married couple and the parents of the 11-month-old infant who died.

It said the deceased infant enrolled in the school in North Legon, Accra, on April 6, 2021, where Yanyi-Ampah worked as a caregiver.

On May 8, 2021, the baby arrived at school in good health, however, at around 14:50 hours, a teacher at the school named Madam Gladys Osei entered the changing room and attempted to play with the infant as Clara was changing her clothing.

According to the prosecution, Madam Osei noticed the baby was unresponsive and asked Yanyi-Ampah if the baby was sleeping, to which she said no.

According to the prosecution, Madam Osei reported the incident to the school’s administrator, who took the baby to the hospital before contacting the parents.

Both parents went to the hospital, but the baby was announced dead when a medical assessment revealed that the infant was unresponsive and all attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful.

During investigations, CCTV footage retrieved from the school showed Clara feeding the baby before changing her clothes.

The CCTV footage also revealed that Clara “pulled” the baby’s hands to her back while feeding her and poured the food from a cup down the baby’s throat.

Meanwhile, prosecution said that the defendant was required by school guidelines to feed the baby with a spoon.

According to the postmortem report, the baby’s airways, trachea, and left lung were full of food.

The prosecution said that the pathologist determined the cause of death as “asphyxiation due to aspiration of food following forced feeding.”

After hearing from all parties involved in court, the trial Judge, Justice Marie-Louise Simmons, convicted Yanyi-Ampah and sentenced her to five years in jail upon considering the convict’s criminal records.