Suspects plead for time to recover from shock of being found guilty

An Eldoret court has given five robbers more time to recover from the shock of being found guilty of robbery with violence before sentencing them.

Consequently, Chief Magistrate Charles Obulutsa will sentence Vincent Lagat, Alex Nyongesa, Jessy Maina, Daniel Gatuku and Humphrey Mwangi in the next three weeks.

The five were about to be sentenced yesterday, but when given a chance to mitigate, they asked the magistrate to postpone the judgement.

“I request that the sentence be delivered another day. I am very shocked to hear that we are guilty of the charges,” said one of the accused.

The prosecution and the complainant’s lawyer, Ignatius Mwaka, opposed the request, arguing that the matter should be closed and the suspects should not buy more time.

“It is time that the case comes to a speedy end and have justice achieved for my client whose life is at stake,” said Mwaka.

But Obulutsa said the accused had a right to give their mitigation, which the court considered.

“The court has considered the request by the accused and the objection raised by the prosecution. The request by the accused will therefore be allowed and I will give them a period of 25 days before the case comes up for mention,” ruled the magistrate.

The five were convicted of robbing Robert Kaptich of cash, household items and phones worth Sh46,450 on December 23, 2017 at Kesses Sub-county, Uasin Gishu County.

The five are said to have been armed with machetes and had threatened to harm the family during the robbery.

“Based on the evidence that has been tabled by the prosecution and the reports from the investigation officers as well as the testimonies by the witnesses, this court has found the accused persons guilty...,” ruled Obulutsa.

The case will be mentioned on September 17.