Justice Simeon Alleu of Freetown’s High Court has convicted and sentenced one Musa Kallon aka ‘Tiger Man’ to ten years imprisonment for killing Sahr Gandi aka ‘Mark Fish’ at Malama, Thomas Street, Freetown.

According to the charge sheet, it was alleged that the convict, Tiger Man was charged with the offense of Manslaughter offense states that on the 6th December 2020 in Freetown the accused unlawfully killed one Sahr Gandi (Alias Mark Fish) at the above address.

While delivering his judgment, the Presiding Judge, Justice Alieu, said the State Prosecuting Counsel, Hasting Spaine Esq. made an application for the accused to be tried by Judge alone instead of a Judge and Jury, and he granted the said application.

Justice Alieu analyzed the law on the offence of Manslaughter, stating that Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought, and that the offence is related to murder, but different from murder in the sense that; for murder, there must be an intent to kill a human being. Such an intention is either expressed or implied from the conduct. For a case of manslaughter to be established.

Related News

The prosecution is required to establish the following elements; that the accused who is alleged to have committed the offence of manslaughter was of sound mind at the time of committing the offence. The prosecution must prove that the accused did an act or omission which caused the death of the deceased. This implies that there must be present an Actus reus,’ which is without intention. That the Act or omission must be proven to have been committed or caused by the accused, which resulted in the death of the deceased. Finally, the prosecution must prove that the deceased died within a year and a day.

In determining the case, the learned Judge took into consideration the elements of the offence, the available evidence and the circumstances under which the offence was said to have been committed, and the duty of the prosecution, which he earlier stated. He said the evidence revealed that upon receipt of a report relating to this case and the remains of the deceased (Sahr Gandi), DPC 11522 Koroma A, and other Police officers visited the scene of crime at Malama Thomas Street, saw the deceased floating on top of the water along the banks of the sea, upon removing the deceased from the sea, they saw wounds on his head and hand. He also said he was present at the postmortem examination conducted by Dr. Simeon Owiss Koroma who at the completion handed over to them the death certificate bearing the cause of death. He said the accused was arrested and brought to the Police Station by members of the community.

The accused, during his interrogation, told him that the deceased did jump into the water. He was present when the accused made a statement, to which he served as witness, and tendered the said statement as Exhibit C1-11.

The Judge stated that the accused, in his statement to the Police, confirmed that he and the deceased fought because the deceased abused his mother, and as a result of such abusive words against his mother, he slapped the accused, and they went into a fight. He added that later, while he was standing in his veranda, the deceased rushed at him and stabbed him on his left hand, and that he returned the stabbing on the deceased twice, and that the deceased later ran and jumped into the sea, and he did not see the deceased again. The accused furthered in his statement that on the 16th December, 2020, he was told by some members of the community that the deceased was found dead in the sea. Upon that information, he went and surrendered himself to the Chairman, Abu Lamin Turay, who together with other members of the community, took him to the Central Police station.

The Judge recalled that the first Prosecution Witness, Dr. Simeon Owiss Koroma, in his evidence before the court, said he is a Pathologist and confirmed that the stab wound disabled the deceased to swim, and as a result the water entered the deceased’s respiratory passages, which caused a complete malfunctioning of the lungs that resulted to the death of the deceased, He added that Dr. Owiss’ report also confirmed that the deceased died as a result of the stab wound. Thus, the report and all the circumstances stated herein connect the accused to the offence herein.

“I believe the evidence of PW.1, PW.2 and PW.3, and I have no doubt in mind that it was the accused who wounded the deceased that later resulted in his death. The defense, in this case, could not establish any intervening fact that led to the deceased’s death. I do not believe the accused lack of knowledge of the deceased’s death, especially when I consider the fact that the accused made a free and voluntary statement, where he stated that he fought with the deceased and in the process wounded him. I believe the accused was not saying the truth, when he said he didn’t know how the deceased fell into the water.

“Taking the evidence in its entirety, I am of the considered view that the prosecution has proven the guilt of the accused on the offence charged beyond all reasonable doubt. I find the accused guilty and convict him on the offence charged accordingly,” Justice Alleu said.

However, the defense Lawyer, H. Momoh, in his plea of mitigation, pleaded for mercy, as the accused is a first time offender, and a young man. He prayed for the Judge to give his client a sentence that would enable him to have a second chance in life.

However, Justice Simeon Alieu, having heard the plea of mitigation and taken into consideration the nature of the offence and the circumstances under which the offence was committed, convicted and sentenced the accused to ten years imprisonment, which will serve as a deterrent to others.