In September 2021, Josephine Panyin Mensah was found after pretending to be pregnant and abduction.
The infamous Josephine Panyin Mensah, who was later accused of faking her kidnapping and fabricating a pregnancy, was fined GH7,200 by Takoradi District Court A, presided over by His Worship Michael Ampadu, for publishing false information with the goal to spread fear and panic.
Although Josephine Panyin Mensah did not make the publication, her report to the police did result in the publishing, which "in no doubt generated terror and panic across the country," according to presiding judge Michael Ampadu, who spent more than two hours to read out his decision.
He continued by saying that initially, the police had only been called to investigate a missing wife report; however, after they had located Josephine Panyin Mensah, who had previously admitted to having a fake pregnancy to them in a cautionary statement, the investigation had evolved into a kidnapping case.
"She told the police that she was kidnapped and when she gained consciousness she saw 12 other pregnant women where she was who had all been killed. So if you have a relative who is pregnant and maybe had travelled this piece of information when you hear it will obviously make you panic," he stressed
Because Josephine Panyin Mensah is pregnant, Michael Ampadu chose to settle for a fine of 600 penalty units rather than the three years that the maximum term for broadcasting false news with the aim to provoke fear and terror allows.
The court ruled Josephine Panyin Mensah not guilty on the first count of defrauding a public official because, in the opinion of the presiding judge, the elements required to support the accusation were missing.
"In establishing the charge of deceiving a public officer, we need to establish that the complaint is a public officer and the one the offence directed at was a public officer performing or in active duty. Unfortunately, the complaint was the husband of Josephine Panyin Mensah, who is Michael Simmons and a businessman. And it has been clearly established that the complainant is not a public officer as even the police admitted that he is a businessman. And with that, the issue of a public officer and being on active duty cannot be established", parts of his ruling stated.
Josephine Panyin Mensah was charged with staging her kidnapping and fabricating a pregnancy.
She was accused of publishing false information with the goal to spread fear and panic in violation of Section 208 (1) of the Criminal Offences Act and two counts of misleading a public official in violation of Section 251 (B) of the Criminal Offences Act.