By Amadou Jadama
Magistrate Peter Adoh Che of Brikama on Monday sentenced one Momodou Faye, the owner of the truck that killed 13 people in an accident in Faraba last month.
Faye was fined one thousand dalasi in default to serve 1-year jail term for permitting an un-licensed driver, his apprentice Alieu Jadama to drive his truck leading to the accident that killed about 13 people in Faraba village on March 4.
Mr Faye’s conviction and sentencing came after the court found him guilty of a single charge of permitting un-licensed driving.
Prior to the sentencing, the convict begged the court to temper justice with mercy, arguing that it was a mistake which has never happened to him. He also said he is married to a sick lactating mother who needs care and he is the only one who can provide for her and the child.
Nfamara Saidy, an official of the Gambia Transport Union, intervened to plead with the court for mercy for Mr Faye, whose father he claimed is also sick and gone abroad for treatment.
Passing his sentencing, the presiding magistrate Che said the offence of permitting of un-licensed driving is punishable to a fine of not less than five hundred dalasi and not more than one thousand dalasi. He further told the court that the pain caused to the victims’ families is overwhelming and no law can bring the dead back to life.
“The Motor Traffic Act in its punitive section did not contemplate the consequences of this action. I shall therefore, not import the consequences. Therefore, Momodou Faye, you are sentenced to a fine of one thousand dalasi or in default to serve 1 year in prison,” the magistrate told the convict.
Meanwhile, the apprentice Alieu Jadama, is charged in a separate trial with rash and negligent driving causing death. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
