By Saio Marrah
The prosecution in the ongoing preliminary investigation into the murder case involving the Managing Director of Skye Bank Sierra Leone, Ikubolaje Ncol, has played CCTV in court showing the alleged victim Sinnah Kai Kargbo, being driven into the facility in Freetown.
The footage was presented to the court by a police prosecution witness, Detective Inspector Matthew J K Vangahun of the Homicide Office of the Criminal Investigations Department. He told the court that the footage was handed over to him by the management of Shuman Hospital.
The film was closely watched by Principal Magistrate Mark Ngegba at the Pademba Road Magistrate Court No.1 on Monday 06th February, 2023.
Led in evidence by lawyer, Ahmed J.M. Bockarie, the witness, said the footage revealed the recording was done on Sunday 16th October 2022. Inspector Vangahun said the location in the video indicated the parking lot at Shuman hospital, with the deceased seen on a wheelchair being transferred to a stretcher after the hospital porters had taken her from the car.
An armed policeman from the Operational Support Division (OSD) described as a guard at the residence of the accused was also spotted on the scene while a nurse could be seen preparing a bed in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
The video also showed at 07:04 am on the same day the accused leaving the hospital and then a Dr. Alie Bangura at the hospital wearing hand gloves examining the deceased at the ICU after which her body was taken out. The footage also showed the accused at the cashier’s booth in the hospital.
The police prosecution witness also brought in other pieces of exhibit including a number of items of female clothing taken from the wardrobe of the accused which he said the accused identified as clothing belonging to other women that visited his residence.
The witness mentioned a woman called Fatmata believed to be on the run and who, based on a mobile phone call log, had several conversations with the accused before and after the incident.
Defence lawyer Roland Wright argued that the video showed a nurse at Shuman hospital getting into a car and conducting an examination on the deceased before she was taken out and placed in a wheelchair and that she could be seen shaking her left hand before she was transferred to a stretcher.
Lawyer Wright also noted that the police prosecution witness was informed about the existence of the third party, Fatmata, before obtaining a statement from the accused, but the police prosecution witness denied that.
The defence lawyer also told the court that the three people - the accused, the deceased and Fatmata had had a ‘lifetime’ together and applied for the police prosecution witness to tender the nurse’s statement and the mobile phone call log in evidence.
The case was adjourned to Monday 13th February, 2023.
Ikubolajeh Nicol faces charges of conspiracy to murder, murder and perverting the course of justice.
Copyright © 2023 Politico Online (08/02/23)
