By Janet A. Sesay
High Court Judge, Justice Ivan Ansumana Sesay on Friday, 1 September, 2023 at the Freetown High Court during Judicial Week, sentenced Moses Santigie Kargbo, Chernor Sesay, Ishmael Sankoh, Michael Kinney Ndanema and Abdulai Bombolie Kanu to serve a jail term of 80 years each as they were found guilty of robbing Memunatu Kamara of properties worth over Le20 million and that during the robbery, they also murdered Mohamed Kamara.
The convicts were arraigned on three count charges ranging from conspiracy to rob, robbery with aggravation and murder all contrary to law. The charge sheet indicated that the convicts on diverse dates between 10 and 13 January 2021 at Port Loko district, conspired together to commit a robbery.
The charge sheet furthered that the convicts on the same day and place being armed with a gun, robbed Memunatu Kamara of a Tecno Pop 3 mobile phone valued at Le1,500,000, a Tecno Spark 5 mobile phone valued at Le1.5 million, a Dell laptop valued at Le5m, a cash amount of Le15 million and other valuable items totalling Le24 million.
The charge sheet further stated that the convicts also on the same day and place murdered one Mohamed Kamara. Before reading the verdict, Justice Ivan said that the convicts were standing trial before the court on three counts charges and they pleaded not guilty of all charges after the same were read and explained to them.
The learned judge furthered that the prosecution called six witnesses to testify before the court and all the testimonies of the witnesses corroborated.
Justice Sesay furthered that in the case of murder the first element the prosecution must establish is the act of homicide, which refers to the unlawful killing of another person.
He said robbery with aggravation is a serious offense that involves the commission of a larceny while causing or threatening to cause harm or using deadly weapon on the defendant, adding that the prosecution bears the burden of proving the guilt of the accused on each count.
He furthered that the first element that must be established in larceny is the act of taking or attempting to take something of value from the possession of another person with the intent of permanently depriving the person. The next element to consider is the use of threat, violence and fear. He said the prosecution must prove the guilt of the accused person beyond all reasonable doubt.
The learned judge stated that after perusing the evidence before him together with the exhibit tendered before the court by the exhibit clerk, he was convinced that the prosecution had proven their case beyond reasonable doubt and the accused persons were guilty as charged.
The convicts in their allocutus pleaded for mercy and said they will not repeat such act. Defence Counsel A.B. Koroma in his plea mitigation pleaded with the judge to temper justice with mercy on the convicts and said they are remorseful and regretted their actions.
He prayed for the judge not to slam a custodian sentence on the convicts. State Counsel Jessie Tucker said the offense committed by the convicts are serious and they should be given the appropriate sentence to serve as a deterrent to others.
Justice Ivan therefore sentenced each convict to ten (10) years for count one, thirty (30) years for count two and forty (40) years for count three, totalling eighty (80) year for each convict, adding that each sentence should run concurrently.