By Aminata Phidelia Allie
Alleged killer police, Christopher Sheriff Kamara, yesterday made his first appearance before Komba Kamanda who presides over Magistrates Court No 2 in Freetown.
The 23-year-old, an Operational Support Division officer, is alleged to have shot and killed another police officer, Alie Fayandi Koroma, on Monday 10 June this year at Cape Road Aberdeen, west of the city.
The matter was adjourned to 25 June when the state prosecutor is expected to bring in their first witness.
In another matter, 13 accused persons were brought before the court on twenty-six counts of unlawful possession of substance suspected to be cannabis sativa (jamba).
The prosecution alleged that “the accused on 8 June, 2013 were caught with four barrels and five bundles of the substance weighing 305kg at the Rochen Junction in the Yoni Chiefdom, Tonkolili District”.
Defense lawyer, Franklin Campbell, urged the court to consider the humility of the accused persons and ask them to pay fines in stead of a custodial sentence.
He said most of the accused were not ordinary residents of Freetown but a group of CSE engineers “who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time”. He said “they are all first timers”.
With the exhibit before him the Magistrate said he needed time to reason out the circumstances surrounding the case to be able to decide on the appropriate punishment. All but one pleaded guilty of the alleged crime and pleaded with the court for the matter to be summarily tried.
The matter was adjourned to Friday 21 June, 2013 for a ruling.
