In Banjul’s High Court, Justice E. Jaiteh, yesterday, handed down a ten-year prison term to a 28-year-old man on charges of homicide against Lamin Darboe in Fajikunda, West Coast Region, yesterday.
Bubacarr Darboe, the convicted individual, was charged with homicide in violation of Section 187 of the Criminal Code on January 9, 2022. It was alleged that he struck Lamin Darboe in the skull with a cement block made of concrete pillars, resulting in his demise.

The defendant was brought before the court on 30 May 2022, where he entered a not-guilty plea. In support of his case, the prosecution presented eight witnesses, including the photograph of the deceased, the postmortem report, and a cautionary statement, and a concrete block tendered by the defendant.

In contrast, the State Law Office submitted amended information of manslaughter in violation of Section 186 of the Criminal Code on February 21, 2024. Subsequently, the convicted individual re-submitted his plea of guilty.

Counsel O. Susso, in his mitigation plea on behalf of the defendant, asserted that the defendant had never been found deficient by the court and had committed an error he profoundly lamented, bearing the consequences of the incident.

Susso, the defendant’s attorney, further stated that the individual convicted was a first-time offender. He urged the court to impose a reduced sentence on the defendant, noting that the defendant was an asthmatic patient prone to sudden attacks.

In rendering the verdict, the presiding judge, Justice Jaiteh, made reference to the mitigation plea entered by the defendant’s attorney and declared that, on account of the defendant being a first-time offender, the statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment would not be imposed.

Subsequently, Justice Jaiteh made reference to Section 29 (2) of the Criminal Code, which stipulates that “an individual facing life imprisonment or another term of imprisonment for a violation of this code or any other law may receive a reduced sentence.”

The presiding judge subsequently imposed a 10-year sentence on the offender and mandated that a lesson be taught in order to discourage future offences.