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Magistrate John Manso Fornah of the Pademba Road Magistrate Court No. 2 on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, remanded 28-year-old businessman Dekalie Conteh on three serious criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, murder, and malicious damage.
Conteh faces charges under the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 (as amended by the Abolition of the Death Penalty Act 2021, Act No. 6 of 2022), and the Malicious Damage Act of 1861. According to the charge sheet, the accused allegedly conspired with unknown persons on February 16, 2025, at Token Grassfield, Main Peninsula Road, Freetown, to commit murder. He is further accused of murdering one Andrew Mansaray and maliciously damaging a Bluetooth musical set valued at Le 3,000, the property of businessman Francis Lebbie.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Sorie Conteh, the fifth prosecution witness, Francis Lebbie, testified that on the date of the incident, he was informed that someone was threatening to attack him. He advised the individual to report the matter to the police. Later that day, Lebbie said, the accused arrived in a tricycle (kekeh) with several others and began disrupting businesses in the area.
Lebbie told the court that the accused, armed with a cutlass, damaged his shop’s guard, a Bluetooth speaker, and a Coleman cooler. The group allegedly carried knives and broken bottles. Fearing for his life, Lebbie fled the scene and reported the matter to the police and the local headman, who later informed him that someone had been killed nearby.
Lebbie’s police statement was tendered in court as Exhibit F1–15. Defence counsel J. Fofanah requested an adjournment for further cross-examination.
Magistrate Fornah denied bail due to the gravity of the offences and ordered Conteh be remanded at the Male Correctional Centre in Freetown. The matter was adjourned to August 14, 2025.
