By Mohamed Foday Conteh
Evidence at High Court No. 2 in Freetown has revealed that some men accused of robbery and the beating up and indecent abuse of a clergy and retired Head Teacher, Jane Lahai on the 20th May 2019 were on a robbery spree in Moyamba Township.
Amadu Turay and 15 others were arraigned in court on the 28th September this year on allegations of robbery and other criminal charges that occurred on the 19th and 20th of May 2019 in Moyamba Town, Southern Province of Sierra Leone.
Rev. Lahai was not in court to testify because it was revealed she has travelled to the United States for medical treatment and will not be returning any time soon.
State Prosecutor Joseph A. K. Sesay then made an application to Justice Monfred Momoh Sesay for Rev. Lahai’s statement at the Magistrate Court to be used as evidence in the high court. The judge granted the application after the defence lawyer, Komba Kanu raised no objection.
Registrar, Alfred Favour Conteh was asked to take the witness stand to read the evidence of both Rev. Lahai and one Amadu Bailor Jalloh who was also a resident of Moyamba and felt the brunt of the attack that began late in the night and went into the early morning hours.
According to the evidence of Rev. Lahai that was read in court by Conteh, the suspected robbers on the 20th May 2019 entered her compound at 8 Bo Road, Salina Section in Moyamba Town. The old lady said that the men broke into her home at around 1 in the morning, where she was living with her daughter. She said that the men beat the two of them and removed their clothes. She told the court that the men took her mobile phones and one official motorbike.
According to the State Prosecutor, a total of seven witnesses have testified in the matter. They include Martha Lahai, Joseph Benedict Mbogba, Moyamba District Council Chairman; Angela Sesay, Abdul Kofi Koroma and Victoria Precious Libby –all residents of Moyamba and two Police officers in the persons of ASP Richard Yambasu and Detective Sergeant 11143 Joseph Bangura.
The first witness, Martha Lahai told the court that she is the daughter of Rev. Lahai and confirmed having been mercilessly beaten by some of the accused men on the said night.
Both Sesay and Libby, who were together on the night the men broke into their apartment, corroborated each other’s evidence in court at different court sittings. The two ladies informed the judge of how the men threatened them with a machete and took Sesay’s mobile phone.
PW 7, Koroma also explained how on the 28th September this year the 8th and 16th accused broke into his room, beat him up with a machete and took his mobile phones and Bluetooth player.
Justice Sesay refused to grant bail to all accused persons on the grounds that the evidences so far in the matter were ‘incriminating’. He however assured the men that that does not mean that they were guilty of the allegations. The judge ordered that the 16 men be remanded at the Pademba Road Correctional Centre until their next appearance on the 5th October 2021.
Copyright © Politico Online (29/09/21)
