High Court Sentences Two Men to Five Years for Shop Breaking and Larceny

High Court Sentences Two Men to Five Years for Shop Breaking and Larceny

Justice Abdul Sheriff of the High Court in Kenema sentenced Hassan Senesie of Boajibu Town and Aruna Gbondo of Baoma oil mill village, Kenema District, to five (5) years' imprisonment each for shop breaking and larceny.

According to Andrew F. Kamara, State Counsel and Customary Law Officer, the two convicts conspired with unknown individuals to commit a felony, specifically shop breaking and larceny, on May 3, 2025, at Baoma oil mill village, Kandu Leppiama Chiefdom, Kenema Judicial District, Eastern Province of Sierra Leone.

On the specified date and location, Hassan Senesie and Aruna Gbondo unlawfully entered the shop of Alhaji Swaray with the intent to steal, and subsequently stole the following items: one 4500-watt power bank (valued at NLe 1,800/00), one Tecno Pop mobile phone (NLe 2,500/00), one Common 16 mobile phone (NLe 5,000/00), one Wikoo mobile battery (NLe 2,500/00), one Voltex mobile phone (NLe 1,600/00), and other assorted items, totaling Fifteen Thousand, Five Hundred and Twenty New Leones (NLe 15,520/00).

Both Hassan Senesie and Aruna Gbondo pleaded guilty and requested leniency. Defence Counsel Samuel S. Pessima, in mitigation, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy and impose a minimal sentence.

In delivering his judgment, Justice Abdul Sheriff considered the guilty pleas and the plea in mitigation presented by the Defence Counsel. Consequently, both the first and second convicts were sentenced to a jail term of five (5) years' imprisonment each at the Sierra Leone Correctional Centre (SLCC) in Kenema.