A man, charged with alleged murder of
his daughter, has been freed by a Lagos High Court in Igbosere, for want of
diligent prosecution.
Justice Aishat Opesanwo set Gbolahan Babatunde free from trial of alleged unlawful killing of his daughter.
The court noted that the defendant,
who was first arraigned in 2012, had been in prison custody since he was
arrested in 2009.
The judge added that since the
re-arrainment of the defendant on October 29, 2013, the case had suffered eight
adjournments at the instance of the prosecution which failed to call any
witness.
While explaining that every person
charged with an offence is considered innocent until proved guilty by the
prosecution, Justice Opesanwo, ruled that it was no longer in the interest of
justice to adjourn the matter for the ninth time because of the failure of the
prosecution to produce its witnesses in court.
According to the judge, “Given the
failings of the prosecution, it was improper to further punish the defendant
with detention in addition to the punishment he has brought upon himself by the
pathetic circumstances of this case.”
The judge also ordered that the
decision of the court was not a bar to a fresh prosecution of the defendant on
the same facts any time the prosecution was ready to go on with the trial.
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