The case involving a hunter mistaking his fellow hunter for prey at Timtimhwe, a community along the Tarkwa-Bogoso Highway in the Western Region, has reached its conclusion.

In a final ruling, the Tarkwa Circuit Court, presided over by Mrs. Hathia Ama Manu, decreed that Isaac Donkor, the 55-year-old hunter, would serve a three-year jail term and pay an amount of GH¢600 for fatally shooting and killing Aziz Abukbil, 37, also a hunter.

Mr Donkor faced charges of murder, negligently causing harm, and possessing a firearm without authority. He pleaded guilty to all counts after voluntarily reporting himself to the police following the tragic shooting incident.

According to Donkor's account, he had been hunting around 3 p.m. when he spotted what appeared to be a rat (Odompo). Believing it to be his target, he fired his weapon, only to realize afterward that he had shot a human being. Overcome with shock and fear, he fled the scene before eventually surrendering himself to the authorities.

Superintendent Juliana Essel-Dadzie, who led the prosecution, revealed that Osman Awuni, a farmer and the brother of the deceased, Abukbil, had reported his brother missing after he failed to return from his hunting expedition.

Subsequently, a search party discovered Abukbil's lifeless body in the bush at Timtimhwe, bearing gunshot wounds to his face and arms.

Following the discovery, Donkor confessed to the police that he had accidentally killed Abukbil with his unregistered CBC single-barrel shotgun during a hunting excursion.

The police promptly launched an investigation, and Donkor was subsequently charged and brought to trial.