PUNCH
Controversial cross-dresser, Idris Olanrewaju Okuneye, alias Bobrisky, has appealed against the six months imprisonment imposed on him by the Federal High Court in Lagos which convicted him of charges of abuse of naira.
In the appeal lodged on his behalf by his lawyer, Bimbo Kusanu, Bobrisky wants the Court of Appeal to convert the six-month imprisonment to N50,000 fine on each of the four counts he was convicted of.
Justice Abimbola Awogboro had on April 12, 2024, sentenced Bobrisky, to six months imprisonment without an option fine for abusing the naira by spraying the currency at a party, leading to mutilation.
Bobrisky had on April 5, 2024, pleaded guilty to four counts of abuse of the naira preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The judge while sentencing the cross-dresser, said the judgment would serve as a deterrent to others who are fond of abusing and mutilating the naira.
However, in his Notice of Appeal filed before the Appeal Court, the cross-dresser urged the appellate court to consider the fact that he has no previous record of criminal conviction.
He averred that the sentence imposed by the trial court against him was punitive contrary to the mandatory provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law on sentencing.
He stated 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.
He also noted that he honoured the invitation of the EFCC on the first invitation during the investigation leading to the charge.
