The Special Criminal Court in Banjul yesterday convicted and sentenced one Abdourahman Barry to serve 10 years in prison starting from his day of arrest.
Barry was found culpable for causing the death of his brother, one Sulayman Barry, at Brikama Nyambai on 25 October 2011.
Delivering the judgment, the presiding judge, Justice Emmanuel Nkea stated that the convict, Abdourahman Barry, was charged with one count of murder.
The charge sheet stated that on 25 October 2011, at Brikama Nyambi, the convicted person caused the death of his brother, Sulayman Barry, by hitting him.
He said challenged by the plea of the convict, the prosecution called 5 witnesses in support of their case, and also tendered exhibits, while the convicted person testified as a lone witness, and did not tender any exhibit.
The presiding judge further pointed out that the case for the prosecution was that the convicted person, on 25 October 2011, in Brikama Nyambi had a fight with the deceased who was his brother, Sulayman Barry.
He said the evidence of the prosecution further revealed that when the convicted person put his spoon in the basin where the deceased was washing basins, the deceased took the spoon out of the basin, and they had a fight and the convict hit the deceased on his head.
Justice Nkea added that it was not in dispute that the deceased died, and the postmortem was conducted on the remains of the deceased.
He added that in the cautionary statement of the convicted person to the police, he indicated that he and the deceased had a fight, and he hit the deceased on the head.
Still delivering the judgment, he stated that exhibit B was admitted in evidence without any object from the defence, adding that he therefore, holds that exhibit B was voluntarily obtained, and he also holds that there was a fight between the convicted person and the deceased.
The presiding judge added that the deceased died as a result of shock, which was caused by the fracture on the neck, adding that there was no eyewitness to the fight apart from the mother of the deceased, who is also the mother of the convicted person.
There was no evidence before the court that the deceased was suffering from a neck injury prior to the fight, he said, further adducing that the injury inflicted on the deceased was caused by the convicted person, and the injury was inflicted with intent to subject the deceased to grievous bodily harm.
He further stated that there was no evidence that the deceased inflicted injury on the convicted person, and he therefore holds that the convicted person was not acting in self defence.
He said he further holds that the prosecution had proven its case beyond all reasonable doubts, and he found the convicted person culpable of manslaughter.
In his plea of mitigation, the defence counsel from the Legal Aid agency urged the court not to impose a long custodial sentence on the convicted person, because that would be a double hardship to the parents of the convict and the deceased.
She urged the court to temper justice with mercy.
