Agboola Bayo
Ibadan
An Oyo High Court sitting in Ibadan, yesterday, sentenced an official of the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP), Ministry of Justice, Oyo state, Yewande Oyediran, to 7 years imprisonment for killing her husband, Oyelowo Oyediran.
Justice Muntar Abimbola in his judgment held that the killing was spontaneous and a fallout of marital fight.
The court stressed that the killing was not premeditated and there was no intention by Yewande to kill Lowo, which made the case a manslaughter and not murder, which could have attracted death penalty.
Justice Abimbola stated that Yewande’s offence was a case of manslaughter and not murder, saying, “in a case of murder, the intention to kill is a vital ingredient necessary to be established and proved by the prosecution,” adding that the prosecution in this case did not establish beyond reasonable doubt the intention exhibited by Yewande to kill her husband.
He held that the defendant unlawfully killed the deceased in the circumstances that did “not constitute murder and she’s found guilty of manslaughter.”
Commenting on the judgment, the lead defence counsel, Leye Adepoju, disclosed that the defence team would obtain and study the judgment and thereafter decide whether to proceed to the Court of Appeal or not, adding that in the first instance, the defence team had been able to change the murder charge to manslaughter.
