The Brikama Magistrates Court was, last Tuesday, thrown into a state of pandemonium following Magistrate Jammeh's judgment on three butchers who were found guilty of manipulating their weighing scales.

Shortly after the judgment was delivered, the convicts' relatives and wives could be seen in tears all around the court premises; some of them rolling on the ground. This attracted onlookers from the Brikama market and passersby. The situation became tense when one of the butchers' wife arrived and was told that her husband had been taken to Mile 2 for three months with hard labour. She immediately collapsed and fell into a brief coma for a while.

It can be recalled that the president of The Gambia recently gave an ultimatum to all butchers to reduce meat prices to D80 and D60 for steak and meat and bones respectively. He also warned all mayors and governors to make sure that butchers in their respective areas comply with the ultimatum.