By Bruce Asemota
One Abubacarr Saidykhan had pleaded guilty to a defilement charge and was subsequently sentenced by the High Court, presided over by Justice Ebrima Jaiteh.
The prosecution alleged that Abubacarr Saidykhan in August, 2021, in Lamin village, engaged in a sexual intercourse with a 16- year old girl.
However during the trial, the prosecution amended the charge from rape to defilement, to which the accused pleaded guilty.
The prosecution represented by state counsel, F Drammeh, presented the facts of the case and the accused accepted them as true.
In passing sentencing Justice Jaiteh, explained that he carefully considered the plea of mitigation presented by the accused person’s legal counsel, C Ojoku and his own expression of genuine remorse for his unlawful conduct of sexual intercourse with a minor.
The judge disclosed that the convict has been in custody since 2021 due to the severity of the initial charge of rape which carries a potential sentence of life imprisonment.
The trial judge asserted that under the defilement charge, the maximum sentence is seven years as stipulated in section 5(1) of the sexual offences Act, 2016.
Jaiteh reasoned that while he totally recognises the serious nature of the offence, he will however invoke section 29 of the Criminal Code to impose a more lenient sentence considering that the accused has already spent three years in remand.
Accordingly, the judge sentenced Saidykhan to 3 years 7 months, a term of imprisonment equal to the time he has already spent in custody.
Under these circumstances, the judge ordered that the accused be discharged from remand prison forthwith.
