Legal Aid Board counsels represented 197 inmates at the Waterloo Prison Court presided over by Justice Abdulrahman Mansaray on the 29th to 31st May 2024. The court is meant to review sentenced and remand cases at the Waterloo Correctional Center.
One hundred and nineteen (119) sentenced inmates had their cases reviewed. Justice Mansaray did not find any evidence of over sentencing in respect of 104 of these inmates. They were therefore left to serve sentences imposed on them at the Magistrate Court.
One inmate who was serving a two-year prison term for domestic violence had his sentence reduced to eight months while another who was serving a three-year prison term for riotous conduct since September 2023 was released. Thirteen (13) other inmates serving their sentences had their fines cancelled.
Seventy-eight (78) remand inmates who were granted bail but still in prison because they could not meet their bail conditions had them reviewed downwards.
The 197 sentenced and remand inmates were represented by Legal Aid Manager, Cecilia Tucker and Legal Aid Counsel Abdul Sesay.
The Executive Director of the Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles hailed the Chief Justice, Justice Nicholas Browne-Marke for the Prisons Courts which she underlined will help correct injustices in respect of over sentencing and more importantly help decongest the correctional centers around the country.