The convicts pleaded guilty when the charge sheet was read to them.
According to the charge sheet, they were alleged to have jointly conspired between themselves to commit a felony therein wit: cattle stealing on or about the 3rd May, 2024, at Kotu, in the Kanifing Municipality of the Republic of The Gambia. It was also alleged that on the same day and at the same place, they stole a donkey valued at D9,500 and a cart valued at D10,000.
According to the facts narrated by the prosecuting officer, W/Sgt 4443 I. H. Sowe, on 3rd May 2024, the police Anticrime Unit based at Brufut, intercepted the convicts with a donkey and a cart. They were asked where they got them but the police were not satisfied with their response. They were arrested and taken to the Anticrime Unit office at Brufut.
“They were interrogated and they confessed to stealing the donkey and the cart which they wanted to sell. The complainants went to the Anticrime Unit office and complained that they had lost their donkey and a cart,” said Prosecutor Sowe.
In their mitigation, Karim Trawally told the court that he is the breadwinner of his mother and his elder brother is insane. “I was just using the donkey and the cart to do some work. I was going to return them to their owners. I beg the court to forgive me,” he pleaded.
When Ebrima Jallow was asked whether he had anything to say to beg the court for mercy, he answered: “I was just working and got arrested. Forgive me for what I have done.”
Having listened to the convicts in their mitigation, the presiding magistrate stated that they were first-time offenders and that he had heard their plea of mitigation for mercy. He subsequently convicted and sentenced them accordingly.
