Life for drug peddler

A man found guilty of possessing and peddling heroin was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Colombo High Court yesterday.

The accused Abdul Hameed Mohammed Nilan was initially sentenced in absentia by the Colombo High Court in 2008.

It transpires that the accused had jumped bail and the trial had proceeded in absentia. At the time the judgement was delivered, the court had issued a warrant for his arrest. The accused was arrested last month, and produced before the Colombo High Court yesterday. The case was taken up before High Court Judge Vikum Kaluarachchi who observed that the prosecutors had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.