Newly appointed Magistrate of Ross Road Court Number 1, Wilbri Hamida Moria John, faced serious challenges yesterday, Monday 8th February and had to restart more than 200 files left by her predecessor Magistrate Alhaji Sulaiman Koroma, for not understanding his handwriting.
Magistrate Wilbri John, who was expected to continue from where Magistrate Koroma had stopped, found it very difficult to proceed, stating in the open court that she preferred starting all over again than continuing with what she couldn’t understand.
Speaking to this medium about their ordeal, the Court Clerk also clarified that during Magistrate Koroma’s tenure, his office was always crowded with lawyers who normally asked him for clarification because they were constrained to read exactly what he had written.
He said when the newly appointed magistrate took over, she took sometime going over all the files but still found it difficult to understand.
He said, “She was left with no option but to start all over again.”
Enquiring about how many cases they will have to restart, the Clerk mentioned more than 200 cases of criminal and private summons.
A lawyer who preferred anonymity expressed frustration restarting cases he was confident of having concluded in early February this year.
The lawyer furthered that he was unsure of being able to track some of his witnesses again as most of them reside in the provinces.
A representative from the Legal Aid Board said, “As a legal aid counsel, I will try, but I am not certain as to whether I will get all my witnesses for most of the cases I am defending.”
SS/09/02/2021
By Sulaiman.sesay@awokonewspaper.sl