The state claimed that the fifteen accused persons conspired with other persons unknown to break and enter into the rice store of the complainant, Tarrik Makie and stole therein, over five thousand bags of imported rice valued at over two hundred million Leones (Le200M).
Court record further indicated that all accused persons committed the said offences on 27th November 2018 along the Freetown Bai Bureh Road in the Freetown Judicial District in the Western Area of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
Testifying in court, the third prosecution witness, Mohamed Kamara informed the well-attended court that he is a security guard attached to Tarrik Mackie Rice Store and remembered some of the accused persons in the dock as workers at the Tarrik Mackie Rice Store including the complainant, Tarrik Mackie.
He recalled the incident of 27 November 2018, and that on the aforementioned date he was on duty at the Tarrik Mackie Rice Store together with three of the accused persons namely Sidique, Kallon and Patrick but told the court he could not remember their full names.
According to Mohamed Kamara he received a telephone call from another accused person by the name of Abu, who he said informed him that they had planned to steal large quantity of imported rice from the said store.
The witness went on to say that the following morning he informed his boss Tarrik Mackie about the accused person’s plan to steal from his store and that he later left for Habour Police Station located at Ross Road in the eastern part of Freetown.
He said that his boss Tarrik Mackie told him to go to Habour Police Sation and inform one Assistant Superintendent Police (ASP) Eddie, before he went to the said rice store around 1 AM to surveillance for any movement of the alleged criminals, but that he was outside the store compound.
Mohamed Kamara also disclosed that he later returned to the Habour Police Station, and that while he was at the Habour Police Station he saw ASP Eddie with seventeen suspects under arrest and recognized some the suspects that are now the accused persons as workers at the Tarrik Mackie Rice Store, although not all of the accused persons are workers there.
According to the witness, the seventeen suspects now accused persons were detained, after which statement was obtained from him before he returned home.
At this stage of proceeding, Magistrate Hannah Bonnie ordered that bail earlier granted to the fifteen accused persons be allowed to continue.
The matter was prosecuted by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ibrahim Sheik Mansaray, while the fifteen accused persons were defended by Barrister Mohamed Sahid Sesay and S. I. Koroma.
The matter comes up again on Tuesday 2nd April this year.
