A 46-year-old man Tunde Omisakin was yesterday sentenced to 12 years Imprisonment, by a Lagos High Court, sitting in Igbosere, for causing the death of his girlfriend, Tina Toroso.
Omisakin was charged for cutting the right hand of his girlfriend with a cutlass which resulted in her death.
He was first arraigned sometime in 2010 but was re-arraigned on February 16, 2016, before Justice Adedayo Akintoye when the former judge handling the case retired.
The convict was charged with a count of manslaughter, he pleaded not guilty and was remanded in prison.
The case went for trial and the prosecution called four witnesses.
However, at the resumed hearing of the case yesterday, Justice Akintoye delivered her judgment and held that Omisakin was guilty as charged.
She said that the prosecution was able to prove the ingredients of manslaughter beyond every reasonable doubt.
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Akintoye said that the prosecution witnesses clearly gave evidence establishing how the incident happened.
“The prosecution evidence directly pointed to the defendant as the person who caused the death of the deceased (Miss Toroso).
“The defendant did not deny that he cut her hand but said he did not intend to kill her.
“I hold that the ingredient of manslaughter has been proven by the prosecution beyond a reasonable doubt,” Akintoye said.
She also said, that though the defence had said that the evidence of the prosecution witnesses was contradictory and that the evidence of the investigating police officers were merely hearsay.
“The evidence adduced by investigating officers during investigations cannot amount to hearsay.
“I hold that the evidence of the prosecution is consistent and therefore reliable.
“This court hereby finds Tunde Omisakin guilty of manslaughter and is dully convicted.
“He is sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, the years of remand will be deducted from his sentence,” she held.
The defence counsel, Mrs Grace Adenubi, a Legal Aid Counsel, had pleaded for the convict’s leniency, adding that he was a first-time offender and had been in custody since 2009 when he was arrested.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Mrs Abiodun Gbadamosi, had told the court that Omisakin committed the offence on December 8, 2008, at 2.00 a.m, in his residence at Lamgbasa, Ajah area of Lagos.
She said that the defendant caused the death of the deceased one Tina Toroso by cutting her right hand with a cutlass which severed her veins.
According to her, the offence committed is punishable under Section 317 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2003. Nigeria News
