DPP seeks maximum jail term for British terror suspect

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has urged a magistrate to sentence British terror suspect Jermaine Grant and his Kenyan wife to the maximum jail term provided by Kenya's penal laws.

The DPP pleaded with the magistrate to find the suspects guilty at the end of their long-drawn trial in Mombasa on Friday. The State said it had proved its case against the British and expected him to be convicted and jailed.

However, the defence has dismissed the entire State case as a farce based on no evidence.

Grant, his wife Warda Breik and former matatu driver Frank Ngala have been on trial since 2011. They were charged with illegal possession of chemicals the State says were to be used to make explosives to launch a bombing campaign on hotels frequented by US and British tourists in Mombasa.

Samantha Lewthwaite, a Briton, was similarly charged but the charge was withdrawn because she was never arrested. A warrant for her arrest is still pending.

Nine years

Grant is serving nine years after he was convicted of attempting to forge a Kenyan ID. He has already served two years for being in Kenya illegally.

His co-accused, Fuad Abubakar Manswab, is still on the run and is believed to be in Somalia since he jumped bail in 2013.

On Friday, Deputy DPP Jacob Ondari told Senior Principal Magistrate Joyce Gandani that Grant, his wife and Ngala should be jailed for also conspiring to harm people using the explosives in 2011.

“The accused persons should be convicted on charges of being in possession of chemicals used in manufacturing bombs and conspiracy to commit a felony,” said Mr Ondari.

The suspects face seven years in jail if convicted as they were charged before the new stringent Anti-Terrorism and Prevention Act came into effect. The court will deliver its judgement on July 27.