By Janet Sesay
Justice Monfred Sesay of the High Court on Wednesday 30th May 2018 sentenced one Jonathan Decker to death by hanging. The convict was found guilty of killing his younger brother at their residence at Pademba Road in Freetown.
The convict stood trial on one count of murder, contrary to law and details entails that the accused, on the 17th December 2015 at Pademba Road in Freetown, murdered Samuel Salter.
Before handing the sentence, the Presiding Judge told the court that the accused had made a confessional statement of having killed the deceased. He had claimed that he was defending himself against the deceased who hit him twice with a stick.
He further told the court that while he was trying to stop the deceased,  the latter retaliated by also hitting him on his head with a cutlass and this, according to him, led to his death the following day at the Connaught Hospital where he was  undergoing treatment.
He informed the court that the accused has pleaded with the family to have mercy upon him, promising to take care of the children of the deceased.
After having carefully listened to the statement read by the presiding judge, the eleven jurors came to the conclusion that the accused was guilty.
Defense counsel from the Legal Aid Board, M. Bawor, pleaded with the Judge to afford mercy on the accused. He noted his awareness that a sentence is fixed by law, but in this case the convict is entirely in the hands of the Judge.
The Lead state counsel prosecutor, J.K.A. Sesay stated that section one of the Offences against the Person Act of the Criminal Procedure Act states that an accused found guilty for murder should be sentenced to death.
The Presiding judge then sentenced the accused to death by hanging, while informing him of his right to appeal in twenty one days from the date the sentence was handed down.