Isaac Odoom, 64, jailed 12 months for sleeping in John Paintsil’s house says he was stranded

Isaac Odoom, a 64-year-old man who has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for sleeping in an abandoned house belonging to ex-Black Stars player, John Paintsil has recounted the circumstances that compelled him to spend the night in the said house.

According to him, he was a stranger who had visited someone and did not know that the house was owned by Pentsil.

The old man who is serving a 12-month jail sentence at Winneba Local Prison told Crime Check TV GH in an interview that he was into the business of producing and selling charcoal. He added that on that fateful day, he had left his home in Ajumako to Besease for his business, and unfortunately, it got late, and since he could not return home, a friend offered him a place to spend the night.

He recalled entering the house with his friend through the window but could not suspect any foul play as it was empty and abandoned. He only realized the next day that the house he had spent the night in belonged to Paintsil.

“I live in Ajumako and I went to Besease to work on charcoal. Usually, I sleep at the production site at night but that day, someone suggested we sleep in a house. I thought the person had a place since I was new in the area. When we got to the house, we went through the window. When I asked him why he said he had an issue with his mother and didn’t want her to see him. It was in the morning he told me the house belonged to John Paintsil,” Odoom narrated.

He returned to his Ajumako the next day only to hear two days later that the friend who hosted him was arrested in connection with Paintsil’s house and the suspect named him as an accomplice.

Baidoo was arrested, charged and arraigned alongside his friend. The court found Odoom guilty of two charges and fined him GH¢1400. He was sent to jail because he could not afford to pay the fine.

“The court charged us with unlawful entry and trespassing on someone’s property. We were also accused of stealing a mattress. But I pleaded guilty for unlawful entry and trespassing and not guilty for theft,” he said.

His case has made news headlines following the interview with Crime Check TV and sparked mixed reactions.

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