Court hands death sentence to man for killing banker

A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has sentenced one Joseph Udoh to death by hanging, for killing a banker, Pascal Nnorom.

The convict, who committed the crime on May 13, 2017, along MTN Link Road in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state, was charged with murder in Suit No. PHC/3436 CR/ 2017.

Justice Chinwendu Nworgu, who delivered judgement on the matter on Wednesday, said the prosecution proved their case beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant killed Nnorom.

But counsel for the convict, Mr Edwin Woka, who spoke with newsmen after the court session, expressed displeasure over the judgment, hinting that the outcome would be challenged at the Court of Appeal.

However, the state prosecution counsel, Gbasam Okogbulam, declined speaking on the court judgment.

Speaking on the circumstances that led to his younger brother’s death, a bank manager, Sir Chibuzor Nnorom, said, “It happened on a Sunday when my younger brother, who was 30 years old, was going for a wedding. He was married for only about seven months. He had driven close to Elelenwo Police Station when one Joseph Udoh scratched his car.

“My brother parked his and went to Udoh to show him what he had done to his car. But Udoh hit my brother with his own car and he (brother) fell across the median (road demarcation). He (Paschal Nnorom) broke his spinal cord and died instantly.”