By Bruce Asemota
The Banjul High Court presided over by Justice Ebrima Jaiteh has acquitted and discharged one Alasan Tamba of the charge of robbery, following the failure of the prosecutors to prove their case.
Prosecutors alleged that Tamba had robbed one Modou Lamin Mansally in August 2023, taking away iPhone XR worth D16,500, D4,800 cash, and a Gambian passport contained in a black Adidas bag.
Two witnesses testified for the prosecution while the accused called only one witness in his defence.
Justice Jaiteh disclosed that both the prosecution and the defence presented compelling oral arguments.
“However after going through the testimonies adduced by both sides, it is evident that the prosecution failed to meet the burden of proof against the suspect. The prosecution’s case was eroded by the absence of any stolen property found on the suspect as nothing was recovered from him at the time of his arrest,” the judge said.
He further asserted that no forensic evidence or CCTV footage was offered to substantiate the prosecution’s claims or to place the suspect to the alleged crime scene.
The trial judge said the suspect maintained his innocence throughout the trial, including in his cautionary statement, where he denied the allegations against him.
Jaiteh said there was no connection between the alleged stolen items and the suspect and the victim’s inability to identify his attacker led to substantial doubt regarding the suspect’s guilt.
Justice Jaiteh disclosed that the court must exercise caution against the risk of a conviction based on mere suspicion or circumstantial associations.
He said there is a conspicuous lack of direct evidence linking the suspect to the crime and concluded that justice demands a firm basis in evidence rather than inference, and regrettably, the prosecution did not meet the required legal standards for a conviction.
