A man shed tears in court after he was sentenced to seven years in prison for torching his house.
Moses Njogu Mututho was convicted by Nyahururu Magistrate Vincent Kiptoon on his own plea of guilt to an arson charge, which indicated he torched his house after a quarrel with his wife.
He committed the offence at Kiharo village in Nyandarua West District on July 4. The prosecution led by James Koech said Mututho went home and found his wife Jane Waitherero had not lit fire for his mother and picked up a quarrel with her.
Set ablaze
He then went to his mother’s house 50 metres away from his house and lit the fire before coming back and dousing his wife’s house in kerosene and setting it ablaze.
The prosecution said Mututho barred residents who responded to his wife’s distress calls from putting out the fire.
“The accused person then escaped but was arrested by officers from Oljoro Orok police post,” said the prosecutor.
Kiptoon said the offence attracted a life imprisonment but opted to hand him the seven-year jail term based on mitigation of the accused person.
Mututho told the court he was a father of three children and was supporting his mother and a disabled sister. The charge sheet read that the house was valued at Sh70,000 and belonged to his wife.
