Suspected cocaine trafficker Jack Wolf and his Kenyan co-accused Francis Mwanthi will be freed on bail after a judge dismissed an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions that they be remanded until their trial is over.
The two are on trial for allegedly trafficking in 99.7kg cocaine worth Sh598 million. The drugs was seized in Mombasa. They denied the charges before Kibera senior resident magistrate Derrick Kuto on August 4.
Yesterday, High Court judge Luka Kimaru rejected a bid that sought to have the two locked up until their trial is concluded. Kimaru said the DPP failed to prove that Wolf, son of former colonial minister, and Mwanthi, a clearing agent, will abscond once freed on bond.
“There are no compelling reasons to detain the two. The DPP has not shown compelling reasons that can warrant this court denying them bail. I consequently lift the earlier order stopping the processing of bond,” he added.
The judge said bond terms are set to ensure an accused person presents himself once required to do so. The prosecution filed an application hours after the Briton was ordered by a Kibera court to deposit Sh70 million bond to secure his release.
Mwanthi was ordered to pay a bond of Sh60 million. The two were further ordered to provide two Kenyan sureties in a similar amount.
The prosecutor said the move to free the two on bond, pending trial, was erroneous. In attempts to have the decision reversed, Tobiko said releasing them “has serious consequences”.
“The charges are very serious and attract very stiff sentences, including life imprisonment. There is a high chance of them absconding [proceedings] once released,” Tobiko said through his assistant Duncan Ondimu
The prosecutor further said there is strong drug-trafficking evidence against Wolf and Mwanthi and that it is in the interest of justice they remain behind bars. His argument was that if the two abscond, the trial and investigations will be undermined.
Ondimu urged the court to take judicial notice of the increased cases of trafficking in narcotic drugs. Kimaru, however, agreed with senior resident magistrate Derrick Kuto that the prosecution had failed to table compelling reasons.
The judge said DPP”s arguments lacked merit and an accused person has rights to bail. He said the two were released on police bond prior to their arrest, and later presented themselves at the police station.