A High Court in Freetown has sentenced 43-year-old trader Aminata Mansaray to 30 years in prison after she was found guilty of unlawful possession and dealing in kush, in violation of the National Drugs Control Act No. 10 of 2008.
The case was presided over by Justice Josephine F. Hinga, who ruled that drug-related offences pose a serious threat to public health and national development.
Court documents show that Mansaray, a resident of Culvert, Race Course in Freetown, was arraigned on two counts.
She pleaded guilty and appealed for mercy, claiming in court that the drugs were given to her by a man known as “Pupa” and that she was only keeping them for safekeeping.
Her defence counsel, M.Y. Conteh Esq., told the court that she was a first-time offender, a mother of seven, and had shown remorse.
Despite the plea for leniency, the judge sentenced her to 30 years on each count, with both sentences to run concurrently.
