FREETOWN – The Legal Aid Board (LAB) has successfully secured the release of 19-year-old Haja Mariama Dauda, a lactating mother of a two-month-old child, from the Freetown High Court presided over by Honourable Justice M. Mgeba.
Dauda was freed on Friday, November 7, 2025, on a caution and discharge basis following a plea-in-mitigation by Counsel Mustapha Karim Dauda. Her release came eight months after her first appearance at the Waterloo Magistrate Court in April 2025. At the time, she was three months pregnant and later gave birth while on remand at the Freetown Female Correctional Center in September 2025.
The young mother had been facing a one-count charge of wounding with intent, after allegedly injuring her rival during a confrontation at her boyfriend’s house in Samuel Town, Waterloo.
In her post-discharge briefing, LAB Executive Director Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles welcomed the court’s decision, describing it as a new chapter in Dauda’s life. She cautioned the beneficiary to avoid any conduct that could attract police interest, stressing that “crime has no place in society.”
Carlton-Hanciles encouraged Dauda to remain steadfast, hardworking, and committed to positive pursuits, while assuring the public of LAB’s continued dedication to fulfilling its mandate of providing legal support to vulnerable citizens.
Other Discharges in Kenema
In a related development, LAB’s resident lawyer in Kenema District, Counsel Patrick Kamara, secured the discharge of three accused persons—Francis Deed, Lamin Bangura, and Philip Johnny—from the High Court in Kenema, presided over by Honourable Justice Abdul Sheriff.
The three had been separately standing trial on charges of conspiracy, fraudulent conversion, and shop breaking. Their release over the past two weeks further underscores LAB’s role in ensuring access to justice across Sierra Leone.