Kenema Magistrate Sentences Two for Larceny and False Pretences

On April 29, 2026, the Presiding Magistrate in Kenema, His Worship Hadiru Daboh of Magistrate Court No. 1, handed down sentences in two criminal matters.

Joseph Ngagbai, alias Sahr. J., a 28-year-old commercial motorcycle operator residing at Bandama, was sentenced to twenty-four (24) months imprisonment for Larceny. 

Court Registrar Brima Tomboyeke read the charges, detailing that on March 15, 2026, along Blama Road in Kenema, the defendant stole one Blue Star HLX Motorcycle (Registration ADD 635), valued at Twenty-Five Thousand New Leones (NLe 25,000/00), which was the property of Aziz Lansana. Ngagbai, who was standing trial for Larceny contrary to Section 20 of the Larceny Act 1916, pleaded guilty and requested leniency. 

He was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment at the Sierra Leone Correctional Centre (SLCC) in Kenema, with the option to pay the sum of money claimed in the file.

In a separate proceeding, Magistrate Daboh arraigned Musa Hakawa on charges of obtaining money by false pretenses, contrary to Section 32 Subsection 1 of the Larceny Act 1916. 

The prosecution established that on April 18, 2026, at Capitol, Hangha Road in Kenema, the defendant, with intent to defraud, obtained One Thousand, Eight Hundred New Leones (NLe 1,800/00) from Abdulai Jalloh by falsely claiming to have a black sheep for sale, knowing the representation to be false. 

Hakawa pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three (3) months imprisonment at the Sierra Leone Correctional Centre (SLCC) in Kenema, or alternatively, to pay the sum claimed in the file.

Police Inspector Alphan Samuel Musa and Woman Police Sergeant Bakarr Watta, both attached to the Legal and Justice Support Department in the Kenema Division, prosecuted both matters.