A thirty-year-old businesswoman Valentina Norman and twenty-nine-year-old social worker Ansumana Norman were acquitted and discharged on all three count charges before Magistrate Mary Julian Gbloh of Pademba Road Court No. 5, following a successful no-case submission filed by defense counsel Alhaji Arthwah Maddie Esq.
The two accused were standing trial on charges of malicious damage, threatening language, and public insult and provocation, contrary to the Malicious Damage Act of 1861 and the Public Order Act No. 46 of 1965.
According to the particulars of the offence, on Monday 3rd March 2025, at No. 37 Spur Road in Freetown, the accused allegedly damaged a wooden door valued at Le3,000, property of John Bonoh Sesay while in the custody of Daniel Remi Turner.
It was further alleged that; on the same day and location, the accused used threatening language and publicly insulted Ibrahim Doen Turay, with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.
Both accused pleaded not guilty upon their first court appearance.
The Prosecutor Sergeant 3001 Francess Lamin led the prosecution witnesses, but following cross-examinations and inconsistencies, defense lawyer Alhaji Arthwah Maddie Esq left with no option but to filed a no-case submission on 24th June 2025.
Delivering her ruling was Magistrate Gbloh, who noted that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case on all three counts. She highlighted that the two key prosecution witnesses (PW1 and PW2) admitted they had left the scene before the alleged door damage occurred and did not witness the act directly.
Furthermore, the prosecution did not bring the complainant PW1’s wife who made the initial distress call, to testify.
On the charges of threatening language and public insult, the magistrate ruled that the prosecution’s case was legally insufficient, lacking corroborative evidence and clarity to sustain a conviction.
Quoting legal precedents including Woolmington v DPP and applying the Galbraith test, She concluded that while the ruling does not prove the accused are innocent, the evidence provided was too weak to continue the trial.
She therefore upheld the no-case submission and acquitted and discharged Valentina and Ansumana Norman on all three counts.
