By Mohamed Foday Conteh
One Victoria Precious Libby, a social worker in Moyamba has testified against 16 accused persons standing trial at High Court No. 2 in Freetown for a robbery incident that occurred in Moyamba in 2019.
Libby was led in evidence by State Prosecutors Joseph A.K. Sesay and Solomon Christian Kekura on Tuesday 24th August 2021.
Amadu Turay and 15 other accused persons were arraigned in court on three count charges. The 16 men were accused of conspiracy, robbery, rape and sexual violence. All accused had pleaded not guilty of the charges.
In the previous sitting of the same case, one Martha Lahai testified as to the first prosecution witness and alleged primary victim in the said matter. According to the evidence in court, some of the accused persons were said to have broken into homes and assaulted Lahai and her mother at their residence at 8 Bo Road, Salina in Moyamba. The young lady had also told the court that some of the accused persons sexually abused her multiple times on the night of the incident which was between the night and early hours of the 19th and 20th May 2019.
Another witness, Angela Sesay also testified on the 17th August 2021 sitting. During her testimony on the said date, she told the court that two out of the 16 accused persons broke into her apartment where they met her and Libby. She had said that the men sexually harassed them and took away her Samsung Edge 6 mobile phone on the same night Lahai and her mother were attacked.
Libby, the third prosecution witness, affirmed in court that she was a resident of the same address where Lahai lived. During the proceeding, she also recognised some of the accused as the men that attacked her and Sesay on the night of 19th May 2019. She said that the men had broken into their apartment after giving one Jalloh (Diallo) a merciless beating. She stated that it was accused persons identified as Thomas Willoughby and Edward John (7th and 11th accused persons) that met her and Sesay in the bathroom where they were hiding.
The social worker also noted that the men had instructed her and Sesay to take off their clothes. She said that the men had also inquired about her phone after they had taken the one belonging to Sesay in the said bathroom.
According to the evidence provided in court by Libby, the said robbers were also implicated by Libby’s pastor who had confirmed it from a church member who he had wanted to ask to rescue Libby during a phone call on the said night. The pastor had also told Libby through a phone conversation that the church member had told him that the said men had dangerous weapons and that the attack that night was ‘rampant’ in the township.
During cross-examination by lawyer for all accused persons, Komba Kanu, Libby confirmed to the court that the total number of the accused she saw that night in her apartment was three but that she could not vividly recall the identity of one. She also affirmed that the men never removed her clothes. She added that the two men had machetes, torchlight and backpacks.
Justice Monfred Momoh Sesay refused to grant bail to the accused persons and refered all to continue their remand at the Pademba Road Correctional Centre. The matter was adjourned for Tuesday, 31st August 2021.
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