By Aminata Phidelia Allie
The case of Samuel Thomas Bangura, former staff of Magbass Sugar Company who allegedly defrauded the company of the sum over Le 100 million has been committed to the high court in Freetown.
The accused, who was under preliminary investigation on two counts of larceny by servant and embezzlement, had been standing before Magistrate Komba Kamanda of Court No 2 in Freetown.
The accused, a salesman at the company allegedly refused to deposit some amount of money after his sales in May this year and the prosecution said it would rely on the evidence of four witnesses to prove its case.
In his ruling, the magistrate made specific reference to the no-case submission that had earlier been made by defence counsel before the court. The defence had submitted that count two, which is the embezzlement charge, should be struck out because the prosecution failed to state the correct section of the Larceny Act of 1916 that was contravened. He ruled that although the prosecution failed to make that amendment, he would not allow technicalities to “trample on justice”.
Magistrate Kamanda said that such technicalities could be amended by the court and which he did, adding “the defence could have had their way if there was not enough evidence against the accused. But in the instant case, the evidence is not only sufficient but also overwhelming for the accused to have a case.” He committed the matter of the accused to the High Court for trial on both counts and ordered him to be remanded until the case was mentioned in court.
Meanwhile, two accused persons, both in their twenties have been remanded at the Pademba Road prison for allegedly raping a 19-year-old woman in Freetown. They face a two-count charge bordering on rape.
Testifying in court as the first prosecution witness, the victim said she went to fetch water from a well in the accused persons’ compound which led to the incident. The victim said she was asked by a resident of the compound to bring a bowl and that when she came back, she couldn’t find her pail of water.
She explained that a certain man who is still at large informed her that the first accused had taken her bucket of water to their veranda. As she went to collect it, the first accused and another, a fugitive, grabbed her and dragged her into the room of the first accused.
“He (the first accused) held my legs apart whiles his companion forcefully had sex with me” the victim recounted, adding that the first accused wanted to take a turn after his colleague but “I fought with him hard and ran out of the room.”
She said she reported the matter to the police and when they returned from the police station, she was informed that the second accused had been caught while he was trying to pack the belongings of the runaway suspect.
The accused were remanded and the matter adjourned to Thursday for the prosecution to close its case.
(C) Politico 12/09/13
