Two men were recently convicted and sentenced to four months' imprisonment with hard labour by Senior Magistrate Abodoulie Mbacke of the Kanifing Magistrates' Court for claiming to be police officers.
Jawara Dem and Muhammed S. Bah were arraigned in court on a charge of impersonation, posing as police officers and unlawfully taking (D450.00) from one Foday Kanyi.
The police prosecutor, Daddy Jobe, adduced in court that the accused persons on the fateful day met a driver around West Field and posed as police officers and arrested him for wrong parking and threatened to take him to the Serrekunda police station. He added that they demanded money from the driver who told them he had only D25.00. And on their way to the Serekunda police station as threatened, one Foday Kanyi boarded the car and they demanded money from him too. He adduced that when Foday told them that he had no money, a body search was conducted on him and they took D450.00 from him and told him to disembark from the car. He told the court that Foday Kanyi shouted for help and a prison warden intervened and got the accused arrested and then took them to the Serrekunda police station.
Before passing the verdict, Magistrate Mbacke adduced that accused persons had probably been involved in such criminal act without being detected.
'However you are netted this time and should blame yours stars for it," he remarked. But because the police records shows that the accused persons were first-time offenders, coupled with their plea for clemency, Magistrate Mbacke then decided to imposed a mild sentence them to a four-month imprisonment with hard labour without any option of fine.
He also ordered that the said amount of D450 be recovered from the accused persons and returned to the owner.
