Controversial cross-dresser, Idris Olanrewaju Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, has asked the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal to set aside the six-month maximum imprisonment sentence imposed on him by Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court.
Bobrisky is instead asking the appellate court to impose on him a N50,000 fine on each of the counts preferred against him.
Recall that Justice Awogboro had jailed Bobrisky for six months without an option of fine after he pleaded guilty to a four-count charge of abuse of the Naira brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The judge had affirmed that the punishment would serve as a deterrence to others who are fond of abusing and mutilating the Naira notes.
However, dissatisfied with the verdict, the celebrity convict, in his Notice of Appeal, argued that the decision of the lower Court to impose the maximum sentence on him with no previous record of criminal conviction when there are options to impose a lesser punishment by the provisions of the ADCJA, amount to miscarriage of justice.
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Bobrisky made this known through his lawyer, Bimbo Kasanu. The lawyer submitted that the trial court did not consider the positive antecedent of the Appellant, who did not waste the precious Judicial resources of the trial Court when he pleaded guilty to the charge.
In his words, “The trial Court imposed the maximum sentence on the Appellant with no previous record criminal of conviction when there are options to impose a lesser punishment by the provisions of the ADCJA.
“The Sentence imposed by the trial Court against the Appellant is punitive contrary to the mandatory provisions of the Law (ADCJA) on sentencing.
“The Appellant has suffered a miscarriage of Justice by the maximum sentence imposed by the learned trial Court.
“The trial Court failed to exercise his discretion judiciously and judicially in sentencing the Appellant. Which has occasioned a miscarriage of justice against the Appellant”, the lawyer explained.
The lawyer has however, urged the Appellate court to set aside the six-month maximum imprisonment sentence imposed on him and, in its place, impose a fine of N50,000 on each of the counts against the Appellant.
