Illegal timber lands driver in jail

[Photo: Courtesy]

A court has sentenced a driver to six months in jail after he pleaded guilty to transporting timber harvested from a forest without a valid permit.

Edwin Gitonga Kariuki pleaded guilty to illegally transporting mango and neem logs worth Sh80,000 on Tuesday night from Embu to Nairobi.

Kariuki was intercepted by Kenya Forest Services officials at a police roadblock a few minutes past midnight.

In his defence, Kariuki said he had just been offered the job and that the owner of the logs had showed him a permit but had left him to transport the cargo alone.

He pleaded for non-custodial sentence, saying he was his family's sole bread winner.