The Senior Resident Magistrate Court in Zomba has set free 19-year-old Christopher Moses from a case of theft by servant that he was accused of.
The motorcycle taxi (kabaza) operator was arrested in October 2023 on suspicion that he stole his boss’ motorcycle when he failed to return it on the evening of 21 June 2023.
His mother applied for legal aid on his behalf in November 2023 and he was represented by Senior Legal Aid Advocate Martin Dallas with support from Assistant Legal Aid Officer Felister Kantonga. Having stayed in custody for three weeks, bail for the accused was applied immediately and it was granted.
In Court, the State paraded two witnesses to prove that Moses indeed stole a motorcycle. When he was found with a case to answer, the Bureau paraded the accused and two other witnesses.
In his defence, Moses stated that he was hijacked of the motorcycle by unknown men whom he was transporting from Blantyre to Zomba on the evening of 21 June 2023.
It was further told in Court by one of the defence witnesses, a village headman, that he met Moses on the night he was hijacked of the motorcycle and he offered him shelter.
After a full trial, Senior Resident Magistrate His Worship Yohane Munthali, found that the prosecution failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt that the accused indeed had stolen the motorcycle. Christopher Moses was found not guilty and has been acquitted.
𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 (𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒) 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝐿𝐴𝐴 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛 𝐷𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡
Copied:Malawi Legal Aid Bureau
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