By: Audrey Raymonda John
A 40-year-old driver, Abdulai Leigh, has been sentenced to one year’s imprisonment by Magistrate Mustapha Braima Jah of Pademba Road Court No. 1 after being convicted of obtaining money by false pretences, contrary to Section 32(1) of the Larceny Act of 1916.
According to the particulars of offence, between 1st and 3rd October 2025, at Pipeline, Gloucester Village, in the Mountain Rural District, Western Area, the accused, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of Le 18,800 from Lamin Kenko Kamara.
The court heard that Leigh falsely represented that he had a TVS Star motorcycle, bearing registration number AYS 148, for sale, knowing the representation to be false.
When the charge was read and explained to the accused, he pleaded not guilty. The prosecution led by Inspector Mabel M. Tarawally Esq., called witnesses in support of its case. After the close of the prosecution’s case, the matter was withdrawn for ruling.
In delivering his judgment, Magistrate Jah stated that he had carefully considered the prosecution’s submissions, the evidence on record, and the antecedents of the convict. He noted that the convict pleaded for leniency.
However, the Magistrate said he was not inclined to impose an alternative sentence, stressing that such criminal conduct should not be tolerated within Freetown or Sierra Leone as a whole.
He therefore sentenced Abdulai Leigh to one year’s imprisonment.