Accused denies stabbing deceased
December 3, 2015 By Hawa Amara
While being cross-examined by State Counsel A.G.M. Bockarie at the Freetown High Court presided by Justice Alusine Sesay, murder accused Fatmata Tucker claimed that the deceased rolled from the bed and fell on the cutlass, sustaining fatal injury.
Fatmata Tucker is standing trial for allegedly murdering her boyfriend, Saidu Bangura at the Suffizan guest house in Lungi, Port Loko district on 6 April 2014.
She said the room had no electricity when they arrived to spend the night, ahead of the deceased catching a flight to Somaila, where he worked as a United Nations contractor, adding that she used her phone’s light to illuminate the room.
She said the deceased left her in the room to go to a local night club and returned drunk. She said the deceased left his bag in the room but she did not search it. She said the deceased wanted to make love to her when he returned but she refused and that they quarreled as a result.
She said it was during the quarrel that the accused removed a cutlass and stabbed her, adding that the deceased then fell on the cutlass.
She denied stabbing the deceased or inflicting any injury on him, and also denied carrying a cutlass or knife to the guest house as alleged by the prosecution.
She also alleged that she was not allowed to make a statement at the Criminal Investigation Department, but forced into making a statement by the Lungi Police.
The accused was arraigned on one count of murder contrary to the law Sierra Leone.