By Kemeseng Sanneh (Kexx)
Inspector Landing Danso of the Gambia Police Force (GPF) on Monday, 1 July testified in the murder trial of Augustine Bangura, who is accused of killing a British lady.
Inspector Danso is the third prosecution witness in the case. The witness, a resident of Brikama, said he joined the GPF in 1993 and he is currently posted at the Tujereng Police Station. He testified that he recognised the accused person at the Criminal Investigation Department office in the Brikama Police Station regarding the murder.
He said he led the investigators to the crime scene. He recalled that the case of a missing person was reported at his office on the 16th of February 2024. He said they visited the scene and the body of the deceased was discovered. He added that it was buried in a septic tank.
He testified that they visited the residence of the accused person in Sukuta on the 17th of February 2024 around 4 pm. He said they found with him a cash amount of Eighty Thousand Dalasi (D80,000) and a black-handled pistol.
The witness said the accused person led them to a spot, which was 15 meters away from his home, and pointed to a covered hole where a set of keys. He added that the keys allegedly belonged to the deceased British lady along with other documents such as a Gambian driving licence and a residential card bearing the deceased’s name. The items were photographed by the crime record officer (CRO). The case was adjourned to the 2nd of July 2024.
Earlier, the court suspended the testimony of prosecution witness 2, Lamin Fatty because of procedural issues. Fatty was the second prosecution witness in the case. Before Fatty commenced giving evidence, defence counsel O. Suso indicated his objection to the court that the list of additional witnesses containing the name of the witness was served in court without attaching the witness statement. In response to Counsel Suso’s objection, State Counsel F. Drammeh explained to the court that no witness statement was obtained from Fatty, hence the absence of an attached statement.
Counsel O. Suso pointed out to the court that the prosecution stated that the witness had taken photos of the crime scene and would present them as evidence, but the defence team had not been served with the pictures.
State Counsel F. Drammeh indicated that they have attempted to make a copy of the photos, but encountered difficulties in producing clear copies.
Following the argument and the response by the State Counsel, Justice Ebrima Jaiteh ruled that the witness be interposed until the prosecution provided all relevant documents the prosecution intended to rely on.
