Man acquitted of robbery charges after 20 years

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda

The Court of Appeal last Friday (7) set aside a judgement of Panadura High Court and acquitted a man from robbery charges over an incident which took place in 2002 due to insufficient evidence to sustain the conviction. The incident of robbery had taken place in November 24, 2002 in Ratmalana. 

The accused and one other accused had been arrested by the then OIC of the Anti-Corruption Unit of the Mount Lavinia Police station.  

Having considered the evidence of the complainant that the Accused was shown to her at the police station prior to him being produced for the identification parade, the Court of Appeal decided that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against the Accused beyond reasonable doubt. Senior Counsel Darshana Kuruppu and Sajini Elvitigala appeared for the Accused.