By: Audrey Raymonda John
Alpha Kamara a police officer was on Wednesday 20th September 2023 sent to prison by Magistrate Mark Ngegba of Court No1 for the alleged murdered of Abubakar Mumu.
The accused who made his first appearance in court was charged with one count of Murder contrary to section 1 of the offenses against the person Act 1816, as repealed and replaced by the Abolition of the death penalty Act 2021 act No 6 of 2022.
According to the particulars of offense, the accused on Monday 14 August 2023, at Kissi town in the Waterloo judicial district murdered Abu Bakarr Munu.
When the charge was read to him, no plea was taken.
The first prosecution witness (PW1) Alfred Ibrahim Conteh a businessman led in evidence by Assistant Superintendent of police Ibrahim S Mansaray said he knows both the accused and the deceased in the matter.
He further recalled Monday 14 August 2023, adding that he was at his business place at Waterloo in the morning hours when the accused came to complain the deceased to him in respect of a gold chain.
The witness said whiles the accused was talking the deceased was outside but said he later left.
”I then called the deceased and explained to him what the accused had complained him to me in respect of the said chain, but in reply said he would only give the accused chain after he paid him his 240 thousand old Leones”, the witness explained.
The witness said, the following day the accused came to his shop and he told him what the deceased had said and he left.
After closing my business center and on my way home, I met the accused and the deceased fighting, I then went there and tried to stop the fight but they could not listened, I them called for help because the accused was with his friends”, he said
According to the witness, some people came to the scene and tried to stop the fight, but they could not, adding that whiles the fight was ongoing, one of the accused friend who was in a police uniform he said was taking video of the scene.
The accused he said took out a pepper spray from his pocket and spray it on the deceased face whiles holding on him.
The deceased he said was crying and that they took him to a nearby pharmacy but was closed whiles the accused was still fighting the deceased, but said when he notice that the deceased could not breath properly, he stopped the fight and tried to flee, but said he held him tight in order not to flee.
” I asked for help from some neighbors who came to the scene and held on the accused whiles I went to the Kissi town police post to report the incidents”, he stated.
He said two police officers followed him to the scene and took them to the station.
PW1 said whiles they were at the station the deceased was taken to Waterloo hospital where he was confirmed dead by a doctor.
In conclusion said he went back to the police station together with the remains of the deceased where he made statements and the accused was arrested.
During cross examination by lawyer Hindolo Gevao, the witness said on the day of the incident, the accused were physically holding on each other when he removed the pepper spray and spray it on the face of the deceased.
When he was asked as to whether he was there went the fight erupted between the accused and the deceased, the witness replied in the affirmative, adding that the deceased was heftier than the accused.
The witness also told the court that, there were seven people during the fighting but said only two were with the accused whiles the others were stopping people from separating the fight.
When he was asked as to where was the deceased when the police came, the witness said he was in the pharmacy, adding that the deceased was taken to the police station on his car and before the pepper spray was poured on the deceased, they were physically fighting.
At this juncture, the prosecutor Assistant Superintendent of police Ibrahim S Mansaray requested for an adjournment to call his second witness.
Magistrate Ngegba remanded the accused in prison and adjourned the matter to the 28th September 2023.