Justice Musu Damba Kamara has on the 11th October, 2021 sentence 40 years old Mohamed Kanu, an Operational Service Division personnel attached to Cockerill to15 years imprisonment for killing a 46 years old military officer, Salifu Turay.

It could be recalled that on the 18th March, 2015 unlawfully killed Salifu Turay and after spending six years at the Male Correctional Center, convict Mohamed Kanu pleaded guilty to the offense of manslaughter.

Before the pronouncement of the judgment, State Counsel E.T. Jalloh gave brief facts about the   deceased that he was staying with his family including his wife Jeneba Turay, while the convict was an Operational Service Division personnel attached to Cockerill but was also the boyfriend to the wife of the deceased.

The State Counsel further revealed that the wife, Jeneba Turay was having conflict with her husband Salifu Turay (deceased) while she moved in to stay with her boyfriend, Mohamed Kanu (convict); after a while she reconciled and returned to her matrimonial home at Wilberforce Barracks in Freetown but she was still in constant communicating with the convict.

“During the process she intimated her husband about a land located at Gloucester belonging to the convict and she later gave her husband telephone number of the convict to call him and discuss” Prosecutor told the court.

State Prosecutor added that on the 18th March, 2015 the convict called her husband in relation to the said land and during the conversation the convict agreed to pick-up the deceased somewhere in Freetown and they left for Gloucester village using a motor bike driving own by the boyfriend while the husband rode it to the said land.

Upon arrival to the land site said the Prosecutor, the deceased stop the bike and immediately scuffle ensued between both parties that caused the convict to release the trigger on the said deceased. Later information reached the deceased family and the military ambulance was sent to the scene to pick him up the husband and took him to Connaught hospital where he subsequently dead.

“The convict was later arrested, investigated and after the preliminary investigation he was committed to the High Court for trial,” said the State.

While addressing the court of what transpired between himself and the deceased (Salifu Turay), Mohamed Kanu told the court that while on their way to the said land at Gloucester the deceased send his hand behind his back and later attempted to pack the bike and pick up a fight with him. “My riffle was on the alert, when I off from duty I forgot to put it on safe bolt and both of us were struggling over the riffle when mistakenly my finger entered the trigger,” said the convict.

The convict asked for mercy as he regrets his action and asked for mercy from the deceased family for the loss of their son and husband on the account of him.

The accused person Ibrahim Sesay Alias Okada was an Operation Service Division personnel appeared before Justice Musu Damba Kamara on the 4th September, 2021 at the High Court of Sierra Leone. The accused person was present at the court, the State Prosecutor, the defense Lawyer and out of the twelve-man panel jury only eleven were present in Court.

The plea mitigation was done by Lawyer Komba Kanu from Legal Aid Board representing the convict.

In delivering her judgment, Justice Musu Damba Kamara said in the light of the of the abolition of the death penalty which is the maximum sentence and for murder cases now life sentence is appropriate for manslaughter.

In the light of the plea mitigation and the fact that accidentally and in further consideration of the convict family have engage and continue to engaged the deceased family as the convict have been showing regrets and in the light of the age of the convict 40 years old and the fact that is a soul bread winner and that the convict has been in remand from the 21st March, 2015 the convict was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment including time spent.