A team of defence counsel led by Sheriff Tambedou, is set to address the court on May 29 in the trial of Supt Manlafi Sanyang, Bakary Camara and Dominico Fedeli, an Italian national. The trio have been standing trial on charges of theft, involving a government vehicle at the State House.

Tambedou counsel for Mr Fedeli, and Lawyer Lamin Camara, counsel for Bakary Camara and Supt Sanyang, would address the court in a bid to consolidate defence for their embattled clients. Camara would expressed his intention to give his address first.

This development came after the 3rd accused person, Dominico Fedeli, concluded his evidence-in-chief before the senior magistrate Kayode Olajubutu of Banjul Magistrates Court.

Concluding his evidence, Mr Fedeli recalled a time when Bakary Camara, the first accused invited him to the State House, where he met the second accused Manlafi Sanyang, who was supposed to do a transfer of ownership of the vehicle in question.

The Italian national told the court that Manlafi Sanyang wrote a letter that was typed by an officer in another office, before appending his signature. He said Sanyang  enveloped the letter and asked a police officer to accompany him (Dominico Fedeli) and his wife to the Licence Department o the Gambia Police Force, where he met ASP Fabruary, the head of the department.

According to Dominico Fedeli, ASP Fabruary prepared and signed the certificate of ownership for him, but he was unable to get a licence for the vehicle due to the shortage at the time.

Responding to questions posed to him by both the defence and the prosecution officer ASP Touray, Dominico Fedeli insisted that he never conspired with the accused persons to commit felony, adding he prepared the certificate of ownership purposely to give out the vehicle for charity, but not for sale.

He revealed that during the course of his employment at the Kanilai Family Farm, he dealt directly with Bakary Camara, from whom he used to receive his allowance. He told the court that the vehicle in question was allocated to him for logistic purposes by the Kanilai Family Farm.

“There is nothing illegal in making the transfer of ownership. It was meant to give out the vehicle for charity,” he asserted.