By Amadou Jadama
Principal magistrate Anna O Mendy of the Brikama magistrate court yesterday remanded three Senegalese nationals accused of stealing twins in Brikama Gidda.
The accused are Muhammed Jallow, Isatou Jallow, and Amadou Kanteh.
They were slammed with three counts charges of conspiracy to commit a felony, child abduction, and common assault.
They all initially pleaded guilty to the first two counts but denied the last count, common assault.
Lawyer Y Baldeh, who volunteered to represent the trio, asked the court to explain the punishment attached to the charges, arguing that his clients may not understand the charges.
The presiding magistrate explained that each of the first two counts carries a sentence of 7 years while the third count, common assault, attracts 5 years imprisonment. Following this explanation,
the accused persons changed their guilty plea to not guilty on all three counts.
At this juncture, the prosecution, led by Deputy Superintendent Buteh Sawaneh, sought an adjournment to enable him to call witnesses.
He objected to any bail for the accused persons, arguing that all three accused persons were non-Gambians.
In agreement, Magistrate Mendy said she was not convinced to grant the accused persons bail since they are not Gambians.
“I will not grant them bail until I am convinced of the availability of their relatives in court, “she said.
