By: Ousman Saidykhan
A young Senegalese man, Abubacarr Sillah is standing trial before Principal Magistrate Jabang for allegedly stealing two phones equivalent to D37,500.
The two allegedly stolen phones are; iPhone 11 Pro and Samsung A20 valued at D30,000 and D7,500 respectively; belonging to one Fatoumatta Erma Mook and Fatoumatta Jammeh.
Sillah was accused to have committed the act at the Senegambia Palma Beach on 11th June 2022.
“We were at the beach playing football. A little while later, I went to where our bags were and found them open. I could not see our phones. Then I called Erma,” the 3rd prosecution witness, Fatoumatta Jammeh told the court.
She narrated that before the phones were stolen, the accused came and greeted her and Katty, her friend and sat opposite them but she (the witness) was not playing football at that time.
He told the court that the accused asked her to go join her other friends to play. “I told him I was tired,” she said.
The witness continued that the accused was wearing two trousers, one of which he forgets at the beach after stealing their phones.
“We found a number in a pocket of the trouser and called the number. A man answered and told us he was the accused’s friend,” the witness told the court.
On the contrary, the accused person told the court he never saw the witness, not to mention talking to them at the beach, apart from when she was giving her statement at the police station.
“How can someone who has never seen you tell you to go and play football?” the accused asked during cross-examination.
“Well, we have seen each other at the beach until you asked me to go and play football,” the witness replied.
Baboucarr Sillah is charged with stealing, contrary to Section 252 of the Criminal Code. If found guilty, the accused may be sentenced to up to a seven-year imprisonment term.
