In a criminal proceeding held at the Pademba Road Court No. 1 in Freetown, six accused individuals, namely Mohamed Kamara, Zainab Turay, Mohamed Kamara, Zakaria Sankoh, and Abdul Samuel Kamara, appeared before Magistrate Sahr Kekura. They faced various charges, including conspiracy, shop breaking, and larceny. Due to the preliminary nature of the investigation, no pleas were entered at this stage.
The prosecution presented evidence through its first witness, Fatmata Kamara, a businesswoman, who identified the accused individuals standing in the dock. She informed the court that on the date of the alleged incident, she closed her business establishment and retired for the evening when she was disrupted by peculiar noises emanating from her shop.
The following morning, a patron sought to make a purchase, prompting Fatmata Kamara to dispatch her son, Albert, to retrieve a bag of rice from the shop. However, shortly after Albert's departure, Fatmata Kamara received a distressing phone call alerting her to the theft. She promptly proceeded to the shop and made the disheartening discovery that one side of the shop had been breached, resulting in the loss of various items valued at forty-one thousand Leones, which were the property of Fatmata Kamara.
At this juncture, the trial could not progress as the witness experienced difficulty in providing her testimony coherently. Defense counsel for the second accused individual renewed a previous application for bail on behalf of his clients. However, Magistrate Kekura denied the bail plea, ordering all accused persons to be detained at the Male Correctional Facility in Freetown. The matter was subsequently adjourned until November 19, 2024, for further proceedings.
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