According to Charge Sheet, all accused persons allegedly committed the said offences on 11th May 2019 at 9C Oniel Street in the Freetown Judicial District in the Western Area of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
When the matter was mentioned for hearing, three of the accused persons were absent and the presiding Magistrate Hannah Bonnie issued a Bench Warrant for the absent accused persons.
Fortunately for one of the absent accused persons, the court was about to take an adjournment, when he emerged in the courtroom.He was cautioned by the presiding magistrate to respect the court’s time, and that she would not tolerate such attitude from any accused person who is on bail, but is reneging to attend court, when the matter is still under adjudication.Magistrate Hannah Bonnie told the court that whatever the nature of the accused person’s case, as long as he or she is put on bail, he/she must make it a point of duty to attend sittings on every adjourned date.
She added that accused persons should not renege on attending proceedings, as her court is a court of justice and fair play. “I have just discharged an accused person because of lack of evidence,” she informed her spectators.
Furthermore, out of the fourteen accused persons who were initially charged to court, only eleven were present when the matter was called and the three absent accused persons were issued Bench Warrants by Magistrate Hannah Bonnie.
The accused persons were represented by barrister Melron Nicol-Wilson as lead counsel accompanied by a battery of legal luminaries. The matter was prosecuted by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ibrahim Sheik Mansaray. The matter comes up again on Wednesday 19th June 2019.
