An appeal court sitting in Lagos,
south west Nigeria has adjourned for judgement the appeal filed by star actress
and former beauty queen, Ibinabo Fiberesima challenging the judgement of a
Lagos High Court which sentenced her to five years imprisonment for causing the
death of a Lagos medical doctor, Giwa Suraj.
The embattled actress was sentenced
to five years imprisonment by Justice Deborah Oluwayemi for reckless driving
which caused the death of one Dr. Giwa Suraj in an auto accident along
Lekki-Epe expressway, Lagos State. The deceased was a staff of one of Lagos
state owned hospitals.
At the hearing of the appeal today,
the appellate court presided over by Justice U.I. Ndukwe-Anyanwu (Mrs.)
adjourned for judgement in the appeal after counsel adopted their written
addresses.
The court also directed that the
appellant (Fiberesima) who was not in court should appear in court when
judgement is to be delivered, adding that, the date will be communicated to the
parties.
Fiberesima had earlier been fined a
N100, 000 by an Igbosere Chief Magistrate Mr. O.A. Isaacs but the then Lagos
State Attorney-General and Commissioner of justice, Olasupo Sasore (SAN), felt
unsatisfied with the judgement and appealed. This prompted the state government
to take its case to the Lagos High Court.
At the Lagos high court, Justice
Oluwayemi set aside the option of fine imposed by the Magistrate’s Court and
sentenced Fiberesima to five years imprisonment for dangerous and reckless
driving.
In her judgment, Justice Oluwayemi
held that the trial Magistrate exercised judicial recklessness when he gave the
convict an option of fine.
The court held that the option of
N100, 000 given to the convict did not serve the purpose of justice in the
matter and subsequently ordered that the N100, 000 should be returned back to
Ibinabo Fiberesima.
The court noted that the trial
magistrate must have misdirected himself based on the plea of leniency made by
the counsel to the convict that she is a working mother.
Justice Oluwayemi held that Sections
28 of the Traffic Law on which the accused person was convicted does not give
an option of fine stressing that when term of imprisonment is mandatory the
court cannot and should not give an option of fine.
The court added that Section 28 of
the Road Traffic Law clearly provides that where a reckless and dangerous
driving has caused the death of a person, the accused person shall be guilty of
an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment of seven years.
Dissatisfied with the judgement of
the high court, Fiberesima in her amended appellant brief filed by her lawyer,
Nnaemeka Amaechina before the Court of Appeal urged the court to set aside the
five year sentence and restore the decision of the Magistrate Court.
Adopting his brief of argument
today, Amaechina argued that the Magistrate’s Court exercised its discretion
properly and there was no ground to review it by the high court.
He submitted that by virtue of the
Notice of Increased in Jurisdiction of Magistrates, No. 7 of 2006, the trial
Magistrate could only impose a maximum of 7 years imprisonment or N100, 000.00
fine.
He added that N100, 000.00 fine is
the maximum limit the trial Magistrate can impose as fine and that was what it
imposed on the appellant.
In her response, counsel to Lagos
State, Rotimi Odutola (Mrs.) argued that the law creating the offence of
dangerous driving causing death has provided for a term of imprisonment as
punishment for anyone convicted under section 28 hence the trial Magistrate
ought not to exercise such arbitrary discretion to impose N100.000.00 as fine.
Odutola further submitted that the
children of the deceased have been permanently deprived of the ‘’measureless
contributions’’ of their father to their lives as a result of his death caused
by the appellant.
She urged the court to uphold the
judgement of the Lagos High Court and dismiss the appeal.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos
State Command had in 2005 charged the ex-beauty queen [Fiberesima] to the
magistrate court on a two-count charge of dangerous and reckless driving along
Epe Expressway, Lagos which resulted to the death of Dr. Giwa Suraj.
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