A High Court in Freetown has sentenced a 24-year-old woman, Kadija Kamara, to 11 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to eating a plate of rice and drinking a bottle of soft drink at a restaurant without paying.

The ruling was delivered on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, by Justice Mohamed Bawoh, who said the court considered the nature of the offence as well as the defendant’s plea for mercy before giving the sentence.

Court records showed that Kamara had already spent 11 months in detention after her arrest in April 2025 over the incident, which happened at a restaurant in Freetown.

According to Kamara’s statement in court, she had gone to the restaurant with her boyfriend, who ordered the food and drink. She explained that shortly after the meal was served, the man left, telling her he would return, but he never came back.

When the restaurant staff asked her to settle the bill, Kamara told them she did not have money to pay. The matter was reported, and she was later arrested and taken to the Criminal Investigation Department headquarters in Freetown for questioning.

Kamara also told the court that while she was in custody, she was allegedly tortured and suffered injuries that required medical treatment.

During sentencing, the judge said the court had considered several factors, including that Kamara is a single mother with a two-year-old child and that she had shown remorse for the incident.

However, the judge also noted that her initial statement to the police differed from the account she later gave in court.

Her defense lawyer told the court that Kamara was a first-time offender and had cooperated throughout the proceedings. He also added that during the 11 months she spent in custody, she had no contact with her child and none of her relatives visited her.

The court eventually sentenced her to 11 months imprisonment. Since she had already spent the same amount of time in detention while waiting for trial, the sentence effectively meant she had completed her time in custody.