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Dar trader sentenced to two-year unconditional discharge for arson
2007-12-26 09:49:55
By Correspondent Rosemary Mirondo
The Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court in Dar es Salaam on Monday sentenced a businessman to two years` unconditional discharge after finding him guilty of arson and endangering life.
The accused, Ramadhani Mohamed (38), was sentenced by Resident Magistrate Hezron Mwankenja.
In his ruling, Magistrate Mwankenja said that the prosecution was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused committed the offence.
He added that the prosecution brought five witnesses including the person whose house was set on fire.
He said the witness told the court that on the day of the incident, while sleeping in the middle of the night, he smelt paraffin oil and suddenly woke up.
As he peeped through his bedroom window, he saw smoke coming from the other side of the house, and because there was a security light he was able to identify his neighbour who had started running towards his home.
He said he shouted for help but nobody came out, so he was left with his wife to fight off the fire. The mainpart of the house had, however, been burnt by the time they put the fire off.
In his testimony, the accused told the court that he was framed by his neighbour because they had a quarrel.
Magistrate Mwankenja, however, ruled that the accused was guilty of the offence and would serve a two-year unconditional discharge.
Before the verdict was reached, the prosecutor had asked the court to exercise no leniency with the accused because he had intended to kill his neighbour by setting his house on fire in the middle of the night.
In the main case, the accused, Ramadhani Mohamed (38), was said to have set on fire in the middle of the night, the house of his neighbour, Paul Mganda, at Mbezi in the city on November 10, last year.
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