By Mohamed Foday Conteh
Justice Ivan Sesay has sentenced Abibola Lionel Jones, 38, to life imprisonment for killing his younger brother Sholade Jones, 26, at Hastings in Western Area Rural District.
The judge sentenced Abibola on Thursday 9th of December 2021 at the High Court in Freetown.
According to Ekundayo Williams, a gardener who was present at the crime scene and first prosecution witness, he saw the senior brother chase his younger brother with a stick and hit him on the neck.
Williams, in his testimony, said Abibola after hitting Sholade with the stick ran away leaving his younger brother collapsed on the ground. He said as he was attending to Sholade, Abibola returned with a stick and cutlass in hand to further hit the younger brother but he stopped him after exchanging abusive words.
The first prosecution witness said Abibola later ran away and he and Sholade went to the police to report the incident. He said the police later issued a medical request form to Sholade for treatment and examination.
The second prosecution witness a local trader named Olu Coker also corroborated the testimony given by Williams. He said he saw Abibola chasing after Sholade with a stick and that he saw the elder brother hit his junior brother with the said stick on the neck.
He said he witnessed a confrontation between Sholade and his elder brother. He added that Sholade told him that he was feeling pain at the location where he was hit with the stick.
Pathological examination of the corpse of Sholade revealed that the 26-year-old died a week after being hit with a stick and suffered from a severe physical assault specifically on the neck. The report said the deceased suffered from a blunt force fractured injury causing dislocation of the cervical vertebrae and spinal cord.
The Prosecution also led in police witnesses who tendered the Voluntary Caution Statements (VCS)
Abibola, in his VCS, denied the allegations but admitted that he and his younger brother were not on speaking terms. He said that was because the deceased was in the habit of abusing their elder sister, Gifty Jones.
He said on the day of the incident, Sholade had a scuffle with Salamie, their elder sister’s son and pelted a bottle on his left eye. He said their nephew later met and complained Sholade to him and that prompted him to chase his younger brother but denied hitting him with a stick.
He said it was Williams who halted him while chasing his brother and even hit him with a cutlass on the back which prompted him to return home.
The 12-man jury, after being addressed by the judge, retired at 11:41 and returned 20 minutes later with a guilty verdict.
Abibola was charged together with his elder sister Gifty on a two-count indictment. The siblings were in court to answer to Conspiracy to commit murder and murder.
According to the particulars of offence both accused persons were said to have conspired with other unknown persons between April 28th to 7th of May 2017 to commit a murder.
The elder sister was found not guilty on both count charges by the jury and the judge acquitted her.
Abibola was, however, sentenced to serve life imprisonment at the Male Correctional Centre after being found guilty of the second count charge of murder.
The mother of all three was present in court dressed in traditional creole print clothes. The aging mum, who had lost one son already pleaded with the court to pardon his son.
Copyright © Politico Online 10/12/21
