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Gambia: Police Officer Testifies in William West Murder Case

A police officer attached to the criminal records office on Wednesday testified in the ongoing trial of the alleged murder of a Briton, the late William West. The hearing, involving his wife, took place at the Banjul High court before Magistrate Yeboah.

The police officer, Malang Manneh, a police photographer, said he had been ordered by his boss to take photos of Mr West’s remains at Sanyang. He said he took eight shots of Mr West’s body and another one of the black polythene bag containing the body, making it nine shots in all. He adduced that it happened on 25th July 2006.

Mr. Manneh further testified that Photo Star in Banjul printed the photos, adding that he wrote the deceased’s full name and the date on the back of the snapshots. He said he also took three pictures of other exhibits. Manneh identified the pictures, which were then tendered by the state counsel to the court.

Lawyer Camara objected to the admission of one of the photos as exhibits, saying that it portrayed nothing recognisable and that the person on the photo could even be Kate Atori, the 1st accused.

In his cross-examination, the defense counsel asked the testifying police officer if he was a trained photographer. He answered in the negative

But hastened to add that he had had some training in photography about two years ago. The defence counsel further asked if he knew where exhibits A1 to A8, the photographs, were taken. He answered in the affirmative. "I know the deceased but I don’t know him in person," Manneh said, explaining that he had never seen the deceased alive in person.

At this point, he was asked to look at the exhibits from A1 to A8. "Who wrote the name?" the defence counsel enquired. "I wrote it," replied Manneh, saying that it was the doctor who gave him the deceased’s name. Manneh further acknowledged that someone developed the photos for him and he did not know how long it took him to print the photos. He said he collected the photos on 25th April 2006.

Answering a question on how he knew it was murder, Manneh said that he had to indicate the cause of death to be either murder or road accident.

Looking at exhibits B1 and B2, Manneh said that it was written anywhere on the pictures whether it was murder, noting that the pictures were printed on 25th July 2006.

The defense counsel then asked whose name was on the exhibits. Malang said it was William Jarrath Aloysious West but he was not on the pictures. He said by looking at it he could not tell it was William J.A. West. "Look at the exhibit. I am putting it to you that it is a gallon. Period. The accused told me it was kerosene," charged the defence counsel

The case was at that point adjourned for further hearing.