AYV News, November 13, 2025
The Legal Aid Board (LAB) has secured the release of thelactating mother of a two-month-old child from a Freetown High Court presided over by Honourable Justice M. Mgeba.
The beneficiary, Haja Mariama Dauda, was freed by the court on Friday, 7 November 2025, on a caution and discharge basis after a passionate plea-in-mitigation by Counsel Mustapha Karim Dauda. Her release came barely eight months after making her first appearance at the Waterloo Magistrate Court sometime in April 2025.
At that time, the beneficiary, age 19, was three months pregnant. She gave birth while on remand at the Freetown Female Correctional Centre in September 2025.
Before her release by the court, the beneficiary was battling a one-count charge of wounding with intent. She was accused of wounding her rival at her boyfriend’s house in Samuel town at Waterloo, on the outskirts of Freetown.
In her usual post-discharge briefing with beneficiaries, the Executive Director of the Board, Ms Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles, welcomed her discharge, stating that the move indicates a new chapter in her life.
She admonished the beneficiary to desist from anything that would be of police interest, noting that crime has no place in society. She encouraged her to be steadfast, hardworking and committed in things that would make a meaningful impact in her life.
Ms Carlton-Hanciles seized the moment to assure the public of the Board’s continued commitment to fulfilling its mandate.
In another development, the Board’s resident lawyer for Kenemadistrict, Counsel Patrick Kamara, has in separate court sittings over the past two weeks, secured the discharge of three accused persons from the High Court in Kenema presided over by Honourable Justice Abdul Sheriff. The three included: Francis Deed, Lamin Bangura and Philip Johnny.
Before their release, the beneficiaries were separately standing trials on charges of conspiracy, fraudulent conversion and shop breaking, respectively.
