Seychellois woman sentenced in UK on manslaughter conviction

Entrance door to the Old Bailey. The Central Criminal Court has sentenced a Seychellois woman to 9 years in prison, while a Somali woman has been sentenced to life in connection with death of  a 27-year-old woman, Hamdi Jiumala, in Enfield in September 2015.  (Wikipedia) Photo License:(CC BY 3.0)

(Seychelles News Agency) - A young Seychellois woman was sentenced to 9 years in prison by a court in the United Kingdom on Friday after she was convicted of manslaughter in connection with the death of a 27-year-old woman, Hamdi Jiumala, in September 2015.

It was reported at the time that 21-year-old Macdalena Agathine was one of three suspects arrested and charged over the incident in a flat at Enfield, in the north of London.

A British community news site identified the victim and the other suspects in the case as ethnic Somalis. 

Agathine’s Grandmother confirmed to SNA last year that her grand-daughter, who is originally from Anse aux Pins, on the eastern coast of the main Seychelles island, Mahé, had been living in the UK for the past six years.

Speaking to SNA on the phone Sunday morning, the grandmother, Fatima Agathine, said she and other family members spoke to Macdalena on Saturday evening. Macdalena has spent the last seven months in jail.

“She phoned us last night and she seemed ok. ‘Don’t worry I am fine.' That’s what she told us,” Fatima Agathine said to SNA.

Although Macdalena has family members living in the UK including her grandma’s two sisters and niece, most of her family members are in Seychelles.

“The trial has shown that she was an accomplice. There may have been the influence of alcohol etc … and she made mistakes such as not informing the police of what had happened. The family has come to accept what has happened, the sentence and all, but it’s very tough as she is very far from us,” said Agathine, adding that the family is leaving the decision of appealing the sentence in the hands of Macdalena’s lawyer in the UK.

According to a report published by the UK’s Metropolitan Police a second suspect in the murder case, identified as Kinse Aidid, also aged 21 was found guilty for the murder of Hamdi Jiumala.

“She was sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 15 years,” reads the report.

A murder charge against a third suspect, a 34 year old man named Walid Ibrahim, was dismissed during the trial.

According to the Metropolitan Police’s report, investigations have revealed that an argument had broken out between the deceased and the two convicted women at the Enfield flat and that the ‘naked body’ of the victim had been found in the bedroom.

According to the report neighbours had also witnessed the murder convict, Aidid, beating the deceased outside the flat – an incident also caught on video surveillance.

“Police enquiries revealed that Agathine had made calls to a man. Agathine put the call on loudspeaker so both she and Kinse could be heard. She told him that they had argued with Hamdi and that she and Kinse had beaten the girl ’pretty badly,'" reads the report.

Blunt force injuries to the head and trunk are said to have caused the death of the victim according to post-mortem examination.