Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
26 May 2011
Three men who robbed a woman of her mobile phone and Sh300 cash have been sentenced to death. Baricho resident magistrate James Mwaniki found the three guilty of robbery with violence committed on the night of June 14, 2010 at Baricho town in Kirinyaga West district.
Josphat Mureithi Mwangi, Andrew Mwangi Wandia and Joseph Gitaru Kimani jointly attacked Sarah Nduta while armed with a home made gun, toy pistols and knives.
Nduta told the court that she had left Silver bar where she worked as a waitress at around 1am but along the way the three attacked her. “They beat me up as they demanded I give them the day’s sales and mobile phone,” she said.
In the attack, the thugs broke Nduta’s leg. She raised the alarm and a watchman who came to her aid was also beaten up. Members of the public who also responded, nearly lynched the robbers but police officers saved them.
The first accused also faced another charge of possessing cannabis sativa but the case was held in abeyance after the death sentence was passed. In mitigation, the accused asked for forgiveness vowing not to repeat the offence even though they pleaded not guilty.
The magistrate observed that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, noting that weapons recovered from the three were dangerous. “The offence is only punishable by death,” he ruled, adding that the accused were not merciful to their victim. They were given 14 days to appeal.
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