Mr Charles Northfield, the Managing Director of Carnegie Minerals Gambia Limited, has begun seeking a review of his bail condition at Banjul High Court before Justice Na Ceesay Sallah-Wadda.

In his submission, Lawyer Mene, the defence counsel, disclosed that an application had been filed pursuant to the agreement earlier communicated to the court on the review of the bail condition. He recollected that on the last adjournment of the matter it was ordered that a formal application be made and the state did not object to the review application, noting that since records showed that the motion for review of the bail condition was not opposed by the prosecution, they find it sufficient to rely on the affidavit attached to the motion.

Lawyer Mene further stated that their application to review the bail condition concerned the deposit of $100,000 and nothing else. He revealed that the condition had already been agreed to by the prosecution on 21st February 2008. He acknowledged having been served with the affidavit by the prosecution, noting that this is inconsistent with the earlier agreement. He observed that when parties reach an agreement, the court takes record to which the parties are obliged to be committed. He suggested that if the court does not agree with the deposit of $100,000, an alternative of depositing $100,000 plus the equipment be either accepted or the original bail bond amount [of D5 million and two title deeds of D2 million worth each] be reduced. He noted that until the order is varied and complied with, the earlier order would still stand.

In response the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Emmanuel Fegbenle, stated that they earlier on indicated that they were not opposed to the bail condition application review provided it had been formalised, which was done. He asserted that the state had also formalised by filing their affidavit in response to the defence’s application in order to avoid inconsistency, noting that the prosecution would also like to be made available whatever property attached to the bail bond so that they could monitor the bail.

It would be recalled that Mr Charles Northfield, the Managing Director of Carnegie Minerals Company, was recently charged alongside the Australian mining company itself with three counts of economic crime and one count of theft.

The case was at length adjourned to 3rd March 2008 for ruling.