2 Comments 
A footballer, Abdul Sesay, who had recently benefited from a presidential pardon, was sentenced to five years imprisonment after pleading guilty to stealing a mobile phone at the Freetown Magistrate Court No. 1.
Sesay made his second appearance before the Principal Magistrate of Freetown Magistrate Court No. 1, Magistrate Mustapha Briama Jah, on Monday, October 6, 2025. He was accused on a charge of larceny, contrary to Section 2 of the Larceny Act of 1916.
The accusation states that on September 16, 2025, at Magistrate Court No. 1 on Pademba Road, Freetown, Sesay stole a silver Samsung Galaxy A-15 mobile phone prized at twelve thousand new Leones, belonging to Bakisa Massaquoi.
The culprit, Sesay, had previously pleaded guilty when the charge was read to him in court. When the matter was called, the prosecutor, Inspector Mabel Tarawalie, presented the brief facts the case. She explained that on September 16, 2025, Sesay stole the mobile phone at Magistrate Court No. 1. Inspector Tarawalie informed the court that the defendant had already pleaded guilty to the offense and submitted both the caution and charge statements made by the defendant to the police.
Magistrate Briama Jah emphasized Sesay’s prior criminal record and the fact that he had recently been released from custody under a presidential pardon.
The magistrate said those circumstances showed a disregard for the second chance afforded by the pardon and treated them as aggravating factors in sentencing.
In his considerations and conclusion, Magistrate Jah sentenced Abdul Sesay to five (5) years of imprisonment.
That’s too harsh for a common phone
Two years would have been enough
No way. He is a professional thief who is not fit to be walking freely in society. Sooner or later he will become an armed robber. The court should have imposed a more stricter punishment of twelve years. That will serve as a deterrent.