By Musa Paul Feika
Suliaman Tejan Jalloh, driver, is currently standing trial at the Ross Road Magistrate Court No. 1, which is presided over by Magistrate Alhaji Suliaman Koroma for the offence of larceny.
The police charge sheet details that Suliaman Tejan Jalloh, on Sunday 23rd February 2020, at Queen Elizabeth Road, Kissy in the Freetown judicial district in the Western Area of the Republic of Sierra Leone, did steal three vehicle tires, which are all valued at six million, six hundred thousand leones (Le 6,600,000). The three vehicle tires are the properties of the complainant, Mohamed Nyangbeh.
Led in evidence, the witness, Mohamed Nyangbeh, told the court that he recognized the accused as his driver and that he could recall Sunday, 23rdFebruary, 2020.
According to the witness, he instructed the accused to park the said vehicle at the Kissy Terminal, and that the accused demanded the sum of ten thousand leones (Le 10,000) as parking fee, which, he said, he gave the accused.
The witness added that, the next day, he went to the Kissy Terminal in Freetown to collect the said vehicle because, according to him, the accused was nowhere to be found. He furthered that upon his arrival at the scene, he met the youth Chairman, Mohamed Abdul, who told him that he saw the accused removing tires from the vehicle.
“From then I have not set eyes on the accused,” he said.
The witness further testified that he instantly went to the accused’s residence at Kissy Road in Freetown, adding that, upon his arrival, he asked the accused about the allegation made by the youth Chairman, Mohamed Abdulai. He said the accused told him to wait, as he was going to the rest room.
The witness concluded his testimony saying that, after he waited for a while and could not see the accused, he reported the matter to the Ross Road Police Station in Freetown, and a team of police officers from the Station visited the scene of crime and took photographs of the vehicle in question.
The accused was yet to be represented and bail was denied him while the matter was adjourned to 9th April, 2020.