A Brikama court was left in shock when a 20-year-old man openly admitted to setting a suspected thief on fire during his trial.
Solomon Mendy, along with four other young men, appeared before Principal Magistrate Anna Mendy, charged with the murder of Modou Bah. While the first two accused pleaded not guilty, Solomon stunned the courtroom by confessing: “Yes, it is true. I poured gasoline and set him on fire because he stole a 50-litre gallon of gasoline from our garage.”
The magistrate was visibly taken aback, momentarily covering her mouth in disbelief before questioning Solomon about his background. He confirmed he was from Kitty, near Brikama.
Despite admitting to setting the fire, Solomon argued that Modou did not die from the burns but from a beating, which he claimed he did not participate in. His co-accused, Saidou Jarju and Lamin Sowe, admitted to assaulting Modou but denied involvement in the fire. Another defendant, Zakaria Daffeh, denied the charges entirely, stating he was not at the scene, while Edrissa Jawo confessed to taking part in the beating but claimed he tried to put out the flames.
The prosecution accused the five men of jointly assaulting and burning Modou with intent to kill. Given the severity of the case, the magistrate transferred it to the Special Criminal Court at the High Court in Banjul and ordered the accused to be remanded at Mile2 prison.
