SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing Lady Haldane made the following remarks in court:

"On 8^th April 2026 you pled guilty to murdering your wife, Ndata Seka or Bobb.  Ndata was originally from The Gambia, where she attended school and college, before embarking on a career in a bank.  You later met each other and moved to the United Kingdom.  Ndata was 42 years old when she died, and a mother to four children.  The oldest is her child by her late first husband, and the younger three are all children she shared with you.  The oldest child is 14, and the younger 3 aged 10, 6 and 3.  She was a much loved sister and one of 15 siblings and half siblings.  Shortly before these events she had returned from The Gambia where she had attended the funeral of her own mother.  As one of her sisters explained so eloquently in her victim impact statement, the pain of losing their mother and then a sister so shortly afterwards in such horrific circumstances is nothing short of unbearable for the whole family.

I recognise that nothing that I say or do today will relieve Ndata’s family of their pain, and in no way should the sentence I impose be seen as placing a value on her life, which is of course incalculable. 

On behalf of the court, I extend my sincere sympathies to all that knew and loved Ndata Secka.

On 28^th August 2025 you were recovering from a serious illness which affected your speech.  Although there appears to have been some sort of disagreement between you and your wife that evening, nothing can truly explain and certainly could never justify what occurred later that night.  While all four children were asleep  in their rooms, you got hold of two knives and proceeded to assault your wife multiple times with these weapons.

You claim not to recall committing this offence, and I take account of the submission that this has been your position from the outset but the unchallenged medical evidence, that you inflicted 22 stab wounds to Ms Secka’s face, head, neck, chest, abdomen, back and arm, including the fatal wound to her neck transecting her jugular vein, is very hard to reconcile with a claimed lack of recollection of events.  Although Ms Secka was still alive when first responders arrived on scene, despite their efforts her injuries were so severe that she succumbed to them shortly afterwards in hospital.

It might usually be thought to be a factor in mitigation that you summoned police almost immediately after this attack, but this factor is tempered by the fact that you woke up your young 10 year old daughter, whilst you were covered in blood, and instructed her to make the phone call to the emergency services.  Despite the fact that you were only able to speak very quietly due to your illness, it does  you no credit that you were willing to subject your young child to what must have been a deeply traumatic experience for her.

The criminal justice social work report I instructed is now to hand and what emerges from that is a concerning lack of insight into the effect of your actions upon Ndata’s children, her wider family and the community in general.  You claimed to love your wife but could offer no explanation for why you would act in the way that you did and indeed, as I have already mentioned, you claim not even to recall killing her.  You have no previous convictions and I take into account that other matters referred to in the social work report did not result in any action being taken and are therefore not relevant for present purposes.

Mr McConnochie has advanced mitigation on your behalf.  He has explained your significant health challenges, and the the likelihood that you will face deportation at some point in the future although when that will occur will be a matter for the Home Office.  He has assisted in amplifying and clarifying certain aspects of the social work report and he has explained that, the difficult circumstances notwithstanding, you maintain affection for your children and hope to reconnect with them at some point in the future

I have taken into account all that he has said.

The sentence for murder is set by law and is imprisonment for life. That is the sentence that I impose upon you today.  I must also fix a period of time, known as the punishment part of your sentence. That is the minimum period that you must serve before you are eligible to be considered for release on life-long licence

You should understand that in fixing the punishment part the court is not in any sense fixing the time when you will be released.  Instead, the court is fixing the number of years which must be served by you before you can apply for release.  The punishment part does not take into account the need for public protection.  That is taken into account if and when you apply in due course for your release.  Whether or not you are ever released will therefore be for others to determine in the future; and even if you are released you will be subject to the conditions of a licence for the rest of your life and liable to be recalled to prison if you break any of the conditions.  What the punishment part does do is to reflect the sentencing aims of retribution and deterrence.

In determining the appropriate punishment part, I require to assess your culpability – how much you are to blame for what happened - and the harm you caused.  In your case, both your culpability and the harm you have caused are high.  Ndata was a much loved member of her large and extended family.  The effect upon her four children, still very young, is incalculable, profound, and likely life long.  Not only have they lost the love and guidance of their mother but they will require to begin their lives over again in entirely new circumstances.  It is to the great credit of Ndata’s family that they have rallied around to support these children but that will in turn impact upon their own lives and the future of the children is, at present, far from certain.  The ripples of harm from your actions are wide spread and long lasting.

Drawing all of those aspects together, this was undoubtedly a frenzied attack involving 22 stab wounds inflicted upon your wife, who you claim to have loved, and which has deprived four children of their mother.  It is an attack for which no credible explanation has been offered.  Taking all the relevant circumstances into account had I been sentencing you after trial I would have imposed a punishment part of 20 years, of which I attribute one year to the domestic aggravation attached to the charge.  There was a gap in time between your first appearance and your plea ultimately being tendered and accepted, but I accept that was caused essentially as a result of entirely proper and understandable investigations being carried out by both the crown and the defence and accordingly, I will reflect the utilitarian value of that plea, most particularly that it has spared the family of your wife from having to give evidence at a trial, in a punishment part of 16 years 8 months.

You have been in custody for this offence since 1^st September 2025 and I backdate your sentence to that date."