Principal magistrate BY Camara of Banjul Magistrates Court, yesterday convicted and sentenced one Fabala Njie to one year, four months imprisonment, after the accused had pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful escape from lawful custody, contrary to the laws of The Gambia.

Police prosecutor, Sub - inspector Sanyang, narrated the facts of the case after the accused had taken his plea.

According to the facts, the accused, on 3rd March 2008, whilst serving one-year jail term at the Jeshwang Prison Wing, sneaked out and hid himself in the Kitchen, before subsequently jumping over the prison fence, unnoticed. He managed his way to Barra, North Bank Region, where he was apprehended on April 1, while trying to board a commercial vehicle.

The accused, Fabala Njie, begged the court to tamper justice with mercy, saying that he was forced into the act after receiving the news of his mother's illness. But his plea for mitigation could not rescue him from the claws of the law.  Presiding magistrate Camara later sentenced him accordingly.