By Aisha Tamba
A man fainted in court after a magistrate pronounced him guilty of stealing electrical cables worth D441,000 from an MP Trading shop.
The man, Alasan Mustapha, was charged along with Mohammed Camara, a staff of MP Trading. Both were convicted of conspiring and stealing from the shop of the well-known electrical trader. The two men, Sierra Leoneans, had contested the charges.
During the trial before Principal Magistrate Omar Jabang at the Kanifing court, police prosecutor SI Jammeh told the court that Mustapha would occasionally go to the shop at Westfield on the pretext of wanting to buy electrical cables but working in cahoots with Camara, would end up smuggling them out.
A prosecution witness who is the manager at the store, told the court that he realised over a period of time that cables were missing and decided to keep a close tab on the goings-on in the shop. He said on a particular day, Mustapha came to the shop to buy items from Camara and upon investigating, found out they were loading electrical cables which they did not buy, on to the vehicle.
He said the cost of the stolen cables was D441,000. Of these he said only D89,400 worth of cables were recovered.
The Magistrate said the court was convinced the two conspired to commit the offence and convicted them.
In his plea of mitigation before sentencing, Camara pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy lamenting that he was a first time offender and that he was the carer for his family.
While he was making his plea, Mustapha collapsed and fainted in court.
Consequently, the magistrate had to adjourn the matter for sentencing at a later.
