Presiding Judge at the Freetown High Court, Justice Alusine Sesay,
yesterday sentenced Fatmata Moijueh Tucker to thirty years imprisonment.Ms.
Tucker had changed her ‘not guilty’ plea of murder to
manslaughter few weeks ago, after the prosecutor amended the charge of
murder and replaced it with unlawful killing, using section 148(1) of
the Criminal Procedure Act No.32 of 1965. The prosecution had alleged that the accused on Sunday, 6 April, 2014 at
the Suffian Guest House, Lungi, in Port Loko district, northern Sierra
Leone, unlawfully killed his boyfriend, Saidu Bangura.
Prior to sentencing, defence lawyer Ishmael Philip Mammie apologised
to the court and members of the deceased family on behalf of client, and
pleaded with the judge to temper justice with mercy.
He acknowledged the fact that the accused had done something grievous
against the deceased, his family and the people of Sierra Leone.
He said the accused told the police in her confessional statement
that the deceased was very kind and caring, and beseeched the judge to
look at her like any other human being that is susceptible to making
mistakes.
He called on the judge to consider a lighter punishment for the
accused in order that she would re-unite with society and be an agent of
change. Also, Ms. Tucker asked the court to temper justice with mercy,
adding that her action was not intentional.
“I know it has not been easy with the family members of the
deceased, but I am begging for their forgiveness. I don’t really know
what came over me to do what I did during the night of the incident,” she said.
She added that her family had disowned her after the incident and pledged that she would never commit such an offence.
In his response, State Prosecutor Ahmed J.M. Bokarrie urged the court
impose the maximum sentence of life imprisonment or for the accused to
serve 95 years in jail.
He called on the judge to consider a lighter punishment for the
accused in order that she would re-unite with society and be an agent of
change. Also, Ms. Tucker asked the court to temper justice with mercy,
adding that her action was not intentional.
“I know it has not been easy with the family members of the
deceased, but I am begging for their forgiveness. I don’t really know
what came over me to do what I did during the night of the incident,” she said.
She added that her family had disowned her after the incident and pledged that she would never commit such an offence.
In his response, State Prosecutor Ahmed J.M. Bokarrie urged the court
impose the maximum sentence of life imprisonment or for the accused to
serve 95 years in jail. In his sentencing statement, Justice Sesay noted that the manner in
which the accused killed the deceased was too brutal and that justice
was not only meant for her but the deceased.He thus ordered that the accused be imprisoned for 30 years, inclusive
of the time she has already spent in jail. She is to serve the remainder
years of her sentence at the female correctional centre in Freetown.
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