*LAB secures discharge of 12 year old*
By Ranger
The legal aid board secured the discharge of a fourteen year boy from Tombo because he is under the age for criminal prosecution. The boy who is a primary school from Tombo was charged with wounding with intent as a result of a fist fight with another boy from the same village.
He was arrested on 3 November 2016 and taken to the Family Support Unit of the Tombo Police Staion where he was detained for five days before the matter was charged to court.
The matter was heard thrice at the Magistrate Court in Waterloo before it was remitted to the Juvenile Court, Court No. 8.
The Social Worker with Defence for Children International (DCI), Joseph Turay who had been monitoring the case from the outset brought it to the attention of the Legal Aid Board. According to Joseph the offence was never attentional. He said the parents of the victim were never interested in proceeding with the matter hence their failure to appear in court to testify in the matter.
On 15 December 2016, the Juvenile Lawyer for the legal Aid Board, Joel Deen-Tarawally made an application for discharge of the case based on the fact that the offender is twelve years old and therefore under the age of criminal prosecution. The application was granted by Magistrate Otto During.
Reacting to the case, the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board said the child should not have been charged to court in the first place. ‘This is why we will be training the police across the country to stop this from happening in the first place,’ she said. ‘Some of these issues could be handled by structures within the community.
The Citizens Advisory Bureau in Tombo will be up and running soon. It will be handling some of these matters.’
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