High Court to try 180 criminal cases
September 21, 2016 By Hassan Gbassay Koroma
As the September 2016 criminal session re-opens yesterday, it emerged that the High Court of Sierra Leone would be trying 180 criminal cases, ranging from various offences – murder, manslaughter, robbery, wounding with intent, sexual penetration, rape, burglary, larceny, house breaking, and obtaining money by false pretences.
During a call-over ceremony held yesterday at the Freetown High Court Room No.1 , the Honourable Chief Justice Abdulai Charm cautioned and discharged one Alhassan Kanu, after the latter pleaded guilty to a count charge of burglary and larceny.
The accused was charged with one count of burglary and larceny, contrary to the laws of Sierra Leone, in 2015.
The prosecution had alleged that sometimes in July, 2015 in Freetown, the accused, with intent to steal broke and entered the house of one Habib Kanu and stole therein assorted items worth over Le2,990,000, belonging to a certain Foday Kanu.
Addressing the Chief Justice in a jam-packed court room, Director of Public Prosecutions, Sulaiman Bah, noted that considering the fact that the accused had not wasted the time of the court by pleading guilty as charged, he would want justice to be tempered with mercy.
In her plea of mitigation for and on behalf of the accused, defence counsel C. Tucker, from the Legal Aid Board, also stressed that the accused did not waste the time of the court by admitting to his wrong doing, thus pleading with the presiding judge to temper justice with mercy, adding that the accused must have learnt his lesson while on remand at the Pademba Road Male Correction Centre.
In his sentencing remarks, Justice Charm said young people don’t want to learn a trade but they want to live a luxurious life, which he said was leading them into crime.
He admonished the accused to stay away from trouble and find something better to do for himself rather than breaking into people’s homes.