By Saio Marrah
Steven Sesay, 23 a resident of Waterloo, and Saio Marah, 24 of 3 Mile Waterloo have appeared before magistrate Mark Ngegba for allegedly a store breaking and stealing the properties of one Fatima Kanu.
The total value of the properties stolen is one million two hundred and five thousand three hundred and forty-four New Leones (NLe 1,205,344) or one billion two hundred and five million, three hundred and forty-four thousand Old Leones.
The second prosecution witness, Leonard Ibrahim Koroma, testified on Monday 17th July 2023 that he recommended Sesay, the first accused, to the complainant to serve as a caretaker in her store. He told the court that he resides close to the store at Camp Junction, Waterloo, and that on the 14th of January this year, he saw the first accused passing by with two clothes that were kept in the store of the complainant.
According to him, he asked the accused where he got the clothes from and was told the clothes were gifts from somewhere and that on another day; he also saw the first accused with other clothes also belonging to the complainant, but he also narrated the same story about gifts.
The witness said he was not convinced by the explanation of the accused person so he kept a close eye on him and that on the same night, he went to the home of the first accused, where he discovered footwear and a camera that were also from the store and that at the time he visited the first accused was not at home but his son was there.
He said when he interrogated the son about the properties; the boy told him that he had told his father “not to give me stolen properties”. The witness said he then directly challenged the accused who told him that he would retrieve the properties he had stolen from the store but that in the end only a few items were recovered.
According to the witness on the morning of the next day, he checked the store and discovered that the accused used a ladder to hammer their way through the roof and he saw all the holes. He said he then informed the complainant who lives in England and she immediately came to Freetown for the matter which was already being investigated by the police.
He told the court that the first accused mentioned the name of the second accused, Marah who works on the building site of the complainant and spoke about his involvement in the stealing of the goods.
The court also heard that the complainant discovered that most of her goods were missing.
Under cross-examination by Lawyer C. Bawoh, the witness said he did not see the accused using the ladder to access the store.
Copyright © 2023 Politico Online
