Barely eleven days after securing conviction in the  six journalists trial in the High Court, the director of public prosecution, DPP Richard Chenge, yesterday, secured two more convictions before Justice Moses Richards of the Special Criminal Court in Banjul.

The two capital offences are the state versus Kalilou Conteh (murder) and the state versus Sittafa Mara (manslaughter). In the former, the suspect was alleged to have caused the death of one Fatoumata Camara by hitting her with a pestle several times on her head in April 22, 2007 at Sukuta village in the Kombo North District of Western Region.

In delivering judgment, Justice Moses Richard stated that the prosecution has proven the case of murder beyond all reasonable doubt and accordingly convicted him as charged. The judge sentenced him to death and remarked that the death sentence be administered in a manner to be specified by the Minister of Justice.

In the state against Sittafa Mara, Justice Moses Richards also held that the prosecution had also proven the case beyond all reasonable doubt and accordingly convicted him on manslaughter and sentenced him to serve 15 years imprisonment with hard labour. Justice Moses Richards decried the general trend of killing going on in The Gambia and warned that all those taking the law into their hands to kill other persons would be similarly punished with death as appropriate.

In an interview with DPP Richard Chenge, he stated that he was satisfied with the two judgments handed down by the trial judge. DPP Richard Chenge further stated that the era of people committing offences and going scot-free has ended in The Gambia and henceforth anybody who commits an offence especially a capital offence would be speedily tried and given the appropriate punishment as specified by the law.