The Independent (Banjul)
Buya Jammeh & Dawda Faye
6 August 2004
Banjul — John Mackintosh a Briton, who reportedly skipped justice in the country for the alleged rape of a ten-year old schoolgirl, has accused the Kanifing Magistrate's Court and the police of demanding bribes from him in a desperate attempt at blackmail.
Magistrate Moses Richards who had initially expressed resolve to send an extradition request in the United Kingdom to cause Mackintosh to return to The Gambia and face "his pound of flesh" had strenuously denied the allegation, saying there is no grain of truth in the Briton's claims made in a UK publication.
Mackintosh arraigned before the Kanifing court recently for the alleged deflowering of a schoolgirl reportedly told UK's Sunday Observer that police prosecutors and members of the courts had attempted to blackmail him into giving them bribes in an unethical move to neutralise the case, that provided something of a diplomatic embarrassment for the British High Commission in Banjul whose officials had hastily provided him with a passport to facilitate his travel to the United Kingdom. British High Commissioner Eric Jenkinson had argued that the reason for intervening was out of fear that Mackintosh was contemplating suicide, a prospect that was profoundly distressing.
Magistrate Moses Richards who has been handling the case against the Briton until he suddenly disappeared and resurfaced in his home country Britain revealed in his court that Mackintosh had told journalists in the UK that he had actually bribed the court and police prosecutors.
Reacting to this wild allegation Magistrate Richards described it as "carrying no iota of truth". The magistrate who has had a no-nonsense reputation for strict firmness with litigants said as the presiding magistrate he barely saw Mackintosh for only five months. He further noted that Mackintosh who absconded through the intervention of the British High Commission had been charged with a serious offence and since his unexplained absence the court has been worried that the Briton would not be available to pursue the charge levelled against him.
However, according to Magistrate Richards the British High Commission, who had caused consternation by providing Mackintosh with a passport, is demanding a passport from the police, which will be immediately cancelled.
According to Richards the court has realised that Mr Mackintosh has called them to pay for their services.
The officer leading the prosecution Ansumana Dibba for his part applied to the court that one Saikou Touray one of the sureties should be arrested and detained in Mile Two and on the next adjournment date.
Mr Dibba further said that Mr Touray has no respect for the court, because he did not appear before it or even bothered to write to the court through his counsel, to genuinely explain the reason why he did not appear.
O.C Dibba also urged the court to adjourn for a fortnight and further revealed that the prosecution is working with their British counterparts to over the possibility of extraditing Mr. Mackintosh back to The Gambia to face prosecution. Magistrate Richards further ordered that Saikou Touray one of the sureties be arrested and detained before the next adjournment date.
The case was adjourned to September 18 2004.
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