Mother's pain as wheels of justice keep turning

Hillary Monson, mother to the late Alexander Monson. [Kelvin Karani, Standard]

A ruling on the mysterious death of British aristocrat Alexander Monson is not ready, according to Mombasa Chief Magistrate.

Mr Monson's mother Hilary broke into tears after realising she would have to wait longer to know what exactly happened to him.

Monson died at Diani police station in Kwale County six years ago. The death has been a subject of a judicial inquest for the past two years following claims that he did not die of natural causes as police had claimed.

Monson's family believes he was murdered and a meticulous cover-up scheme implemented to protect culprits. Yesterday, Mombasa Chief Magistrate Evans Makori said the ruling could not be delivered as the magistrate had not completed writing it.

“I spoke to Senior Principal Magistrate Richard Odenyo in Migori, who told me the ruling was still not ready. He has asked for more time to complete it,” said Mr Makori. He ordered the matter to be mentioned on June 28.

Monson died hours after being arrested and detained at Diani police station. Police claimed they arrested him for smoking marijuana in public.

Reports indicated that he fell ill while in police cells and was taken to the hospital where he died. But a postmortem examination showed that he died from blunt trauma to the back of his head and scrotum. It was unclear what caused these injuries.

During hearings, 16 witnesses were called, among them a Sergeant Naftali Chege, who arrested him.