The first prosecution witness (PW1), Julie Varfley,
recently testified in the trial involving one Ariyatou Williams, a Liberian
national, accused of assault causing actual bodily harm, before Magistrate
Janneh of the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court.
Varfley told the court she lived in Manjai and recognised the accused.
She recalled that on 10 January 2016, her boyfriend, Pay, called her on phone asking her about her whereabouts and she told him she was at home.
The boyfriend told her she was lying, and that her sister, the accused, saw him and explained to him something, she told the court.
She said the boyfriend later told her to go to him, which she did, adding that the accused then called the boyfriend, Pay, and he put his phone on loud speaker.
The accused began to say to her boyfriend that she (PW1) was a bad girl and had a lot of boyfriends, she said, adding that she called the accused and told her what she was telling her boyfriend was not true.
She said she told the accused she was there when she was calling her boyfriend and heard everything she said to him.
She explained that when they met, the accused started trading words with her and she told the accused that she was shy to say sorry, which was why she started exchanging words with her.
The accused then made a statement that whenever she tried her she would scratch her face, she told the court, saying that was how they started fighting.
The accused then picked up a bread knife and started tearing her body with it, she said, adding that she was then taken to the police station and later escorted to the hospital where she was treated.
Her statement was later obtained.
At that juncture, the accused was granted court bail of D50,000 with two Gambian sureties who must deposit ID cards.
The case was adjourned until 25 January 2016.
