By Saio Marrah
Defence Witness Two (DW2) John Patrick Bangura in the on-going Hastings murder trial involving an accused police officer, Foday Alimamy Yillah over the killing of Alpha Kargbo, has testified in court that the deceased had a scuffle with the accused which saw bullets discharged from the gun.
Led in by Claudius Campbell, DW2, testified before Justice Cosmotina Jarret at High Court No.6 narrating how on the day of the incident, he together with other three police officers went to a land site for surveying and met a surveyor of the land provided by the initial owner of the said land.
He said 20 minutes later, they saw two men approaching the site, one of them taking photographs and videoing. He told the court about how they seized the said phone.
He said as the surveying was going on, a vehicle on high speed pulled up right in front of theirs, and seven men including the deceased, climbed down and started behaving disorderly, uttering abusive words and chasing the workers at the site.
The court learnt from him that the men attacked one of the two police officers holding a gun (AK-47) in an attempt to disarm him, but that he and another officer had to intervene in preventing that.
He said scuffles broke out and the accused, who was also holding a gun, cocked it which forced the men to stop.
At that point, he said the deceased told him (DW2) to use a diplomatic approach, but that one of his boys told the deceased to ignore them, and vowed they would kill a police officer.
DW2 said the boys still continued the disorderly conduct.
At that point, he said he saw the deceased holding his knees, breathing heavily. ‘’I then said Mr. Alpha, are you okay? He only raised his hand at me.”
“I told the deceased I will withdraw everyone and go away but one of his boys said ‘Mr. Alpha don’t listen to him’, " the witness stated.
As the boys continued to video, he said the accused also took out his phone and started videoing with one hand, while holding the gun with the other.
PW2 added that one of the boys snatched the phone from the police officer and ran away. While the accused was looking out for the person that snatched it, the deceased came from behind the accused, and attempted to take his gun from him.
By then, he said the accused was holding the gun in a patrol position, with the head of the gun pointing to the ground. PW2 said the struggle continued for a while and that he heard the rifle go off and the bullet hit the ground.
“The struggle still continued, and the weapon fired again. That was when I saw blood oozing from the foot of the deceased,” he noted.
PW2 testified that “it was then I ordered to take the man to hospital for treatment, but he refused. He even dragged himself in front of our vehicle saying we should kill him.”
According to him, the driver had to reverse not to reach him and that they went to the Police Training School (PTS) Station and reported the matter.
Shortly, he said the deceased also met them at the Police Station but was still in his vehicle, and continued using threatening words against DW2 and his fellow police officers.
After about two hours, he said the Assistant Inspector- General of Police (AIG) arrived, while they (DW2 and his men) were placed in a police cell, but the AIG took them to Ross Road Police Station to ease the tension.
During a cross examination by the Principal State Lawyer, Jusif Sulaiman Koroma, DW2 told the court that he was dismissed from police after the incident.
He also told the court that he was the owner of the land, which he bought in 2017, adding that it was the day the land should have been handed over to him. He also noted that the land was not in dispute
He said they (police) did not give a warning shot as a rule of engagement because the need had not arisen.
PW2 told the court that at the time the gun was fired it was not in a safety catch position.
As he was standing about 10 metres away from them he said he could not tell whether it was the deceased or the accused that fired the gun and that the gun was an automatic. He also denied allegations that his men were on demolition at the site.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (13/09/23)
