By Ray Chammang
A Jos High Court has sentenced two persons, Thomas Danboyi and Pam Lang, to death by hanging for killing a man, Chung Bot.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice David Mann, held that the convicts were guilty of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide, offenses punishable under the Penal Code Law of Northern Nigeria, 1963.
He said the evidence before the court was overwhelming and the prosecution through its witnesses and Exhibits tendered establishes, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the defendants conspired to commit this crime and intentionally caused the death of the victim.
Mann, who is also the Chief Judge of Plateau State, said that the evidence presented before the court revealed that the first accused, Thomas Danboyi, restrained the victim by holding his hands behind his back while the second accused, Pam Lang, repeatedly struck Bot on the head with a stick.
He said that investigations revealed that the victim was later rushed to the Plateau Hospital, Jos, where he succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment.
Justice Mann therefore handed them the mandatory sentence, which is death penalty, noting that he had no discretion to reduce the penalty.
Earlier, the prosecution, led by Plateau State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr P.A. Daffi told the court that the crime occurred on April 26, 2010, at Tahai Gyel Bukuru in Jos South Local Government Area.
They posited that the victim and his family had gone to farm in Ta Hei, Gyel, to cultivate when they were attacked by the convicts alongside others now at large.
