By CCI Team
A man who killed his roommate over a packet of maize flour has been jailed for 10 years by the High Court.
Kiplagat Rono had been charged for killing Erick Katasi Yatich on May 22, 2005. High Court judge Martha Koome said he used excessive force.
The deceased and the accused were roommates at a house in Marigat but on the material day, the accused had complained that the deceased wanted to use his packet of maize flour to prepare Ugali.
Rono then attempted to snatch the packet but Yatich resisted and the argument degenerated into a fight.
Rono reportedly bragged about how he had killed the deceased. In his defence, the accused said they had just returned from a drinking spree when the row erupted.
The judge said Rono had used excessive force and convicted him of manslaughter.
Cockerel thief
fined Sh2000
A Kilgoris court fined a man Sh2,000, for stealing a cockerel valued at Sh120.
Douglas Ayienda committed the offence on November 12, at Olopikidongoi village,Trans Mara District. He pleaded guilty before Kilgoris Senior Resident Magistrate, Roseline Oganyo.
Peter Oketch, the complainant, told the court he had gone to work when Ayienda broke into his house and took away his only chicken.
Oketch, together with his friends, traced the thief using footprints, which led them to the home of the accused.
After conducting a search, they found the cockerel tied under the bed.
In mitigation, Ayienda claimed he stole the chicken to raise money to visit his sister whose child had died.
"I needed bus fare to attend the funeral. I thought of my neighbour who had a cockerel and I went for it. May the court help me," Ayienda told the court.
He could not raise the fine and was sent to Kisii GK prison and the cockerel returned to the owner.
Duo charged for
stealing diesel
Two people were separately charged in a Mombasa court for stealing 1,900 litres of diesel from their employers.
Lamek Odek Owuor and Geoffrey Kipkorir Bii denied the charges before Mombasa Chief Magistrate Catherine Mwangi.
Owuor was charged that on November 3, at Magongo area, while working for Abdi Juma Awale, he stole 1,000 litres of diesel valued at Sh88,000.
He was released on a Sh100,000 surety. The hearing was set for January 8, next year.
Bii was charged that on October 27 along Nairobi-Mombasa road, while working for P.N Mashru Company limited, he stole Sh900 litres of diesel.
He is also alleged to have stolen US $350.
He was released on a surety of Sh90,000 until January 7 next year when the case will be heard.
Man with rapist’s mind
to serve 10 years
A man who attempted to defile his daughter will serve ten years in jail.
Joseph Lutangula was found guilty of attempting to defile his seven-year-old daughter.
A Kibera court was told his attempt was interrupted by the girls mother.
He had been charged that on May 15 at City Council quarters in Dagoreti, he committed an indecent act with his seven-year-old daughter by touching her genitals.
Kibera Chief Magistrate Maureen Odero said the evidence adduced showed that he was found in a compromising situation with the minor adding there was no doubt that his intention was to defile the minor.
"There is no other explanation as to why an adult man would be lying in bed naked with a young girl having removed her underpants," ruled Odero.
Lutangula, in his defence said that he could not have committed such an act with his biological daughter.
Woman charged for
feigning rape ordeal
A woman has been charged in a Thika court for lying to police that she had been gang-raped.
Susan Nchagwa Masumbo reported to police constable Dominic Rop that she had been raped by five men, which prompted Rop to conduct investigations.
She denied the charges and was released on a Sh10,000 bond and a surety of a similar amount. The hearing was set for December 11.
At the same time, a man who admitted stealing an empty drum from a university in Thika was put in remand awaiting his probation report.
The accused, Christopher Macharia Wanjiku, admitted that on November 14, at Mt Kenya University, he stole an empty drum valued at Sh1,500.
He pleaded for leniency. The prosecutor, Inspector Shadrack Mbila, urged the court to treat the accused as a first offender.
—By Karanja Njoroge, Leonard Korir, Nancy Akinyi, Maureen Mudi and Wairimu Kamande
