By Nicholas Bass
Principal Magistrate Omar Jabang of Kanifing Magistrates’ Court recently acquitted and discharged Sheikh Omar Touray who was allegedly accused of stealing a sum of D335,000 belonging to one Muhammed Touray, a businessman at Serrekunda ‘Tippa ‘ Garage in KMC.
Magistrate Omar Jabang at the beginning of the judgment disclosed that the accused pleaded not guilty to the alleged charge and the police prosecutor called six witnesses.
He added that PW1 Muhammed Touray failed to produce any witness before the court to show that he gave the accused Sheikh Omar Touray the sum of D335,000 to deposit in his Bank account.
He stressed that it should not be a practice to push matters to the court when complainants failed to provide witnesses to support their claims which is a waste of states’ resources to prosecute such matters.
“At the close of the case of the police prosecutor, I objected to this matter pursuant to section 166 of the Criminal Procedure Code to determine if the accused has a defense to make or not.
“And I realized that our legal system does not allow a man to establish his innocence and the case of the prosecution was so insignificantly unreliable that no reasonable Tribunal Court convicts the accused on the evidence given.”
However, he continued that “it was PW1 who said that he gave the said money to the accused, Sheikh Omar Touray in the presence of people at his shop in Serrekunda ‘Tippa ‘ Garage, for him to deposit in his Bank account.
“Therefore, the accused Sheikh Omar Touray is hereby acquitted and discharged and has no case to answer, ” Magistrate O Jabang ruled.
He, therefore, added that “I ordered for the sum of D23,800 that was recovered by the police investigation officers to be returned to the accused, Sheikh Omar Touray.”