Court orders production of bank, hospital CCTV footage in P.1 pupil murder trial

What the report says

A High Court judge in Soroti has ordered Pride Bank and Soroti Regional Referral Hospital to release CCTV footage for February 5, 2025, in the murder trial of seven-year-old Joan Faith Apio. The order came after defence lawyers for two of the six accused argued that the recordings could support their accounts of where they were when the Primary One pupil was found dead in a school latrine at Jozan Nursery and Primary School.

The accused include school directors Suzan Vivian Ariokot and Joseph Okedi, headteacher James Edoket, school cook Valentine Opio, school matron Osula Adong and police officer John Bosco Obotol. All have denied the charge. The court had already ruled that the prosecution had presented enough evidence to require the six to enter their defence.

In court, Ariokot said she was at Pride Bank seeking a loan top-up at the time of the incident, while Okedi said hospital footage would help challenge a prosecution witness’s account. Prosecutors argued the request was late and could delay the case, but Justice Boniface Wamala said the defence was entitled to a fair chance to present evidence. He directed that the footage be produced as the trial continues, with four accused still to testify.

More broadly, CCTV material is often treated in criminal trials as potentially important corroborating evidence, but its weight will depend on what the recordings show and how they are admitted in court.