Woman enters plea bargain deal, gets 14 years in jail for strangling husband

The High Court has sentenced a woman to 14 years in jail for strangling her husband.

Maureen Chebet caused the death of Elias Yego through strangulation at their home in Kapsabet, Nandi County, on February 17, 2018.

In February 2020, Chebet entered a plea bargain agreement with the prosecution. The murder charge was then reduced to manslaughter.

Justice Reuben Nyakundi, while delivering the judgment, said although the accused had pleaded for a lenient sentence since her four children depend on her, the offence of manslaughter attracts a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.

“This court finds that the accused person must be made to take full responsibility for her actions. The accused must learn how to tame her emotions to avoid inflicting harm on others,” said Justice Nyakundi.

Justice Nyakundi said he would have sentenced her to serve 15 years jail term but noted the court considered the time she had spent in remand since her arrest in 2018.

“In my judgment, because of the provisions of Section 333(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, I will in that context give credit for the period of three years and ten months spent in pre-trial custody. It cannot be overemphasized that the accused person is entitled to be accorded a benefit of the least severe sentence prescribed by law by virtue of the provisions,” read the judgment.