A Maralal court has sentenced a 19-year-old form four student to eight years in prison for kidnapping a three year old boy.
Resident magistrate Abraham Gachie convicted Ben Lemalele
after he pleaded guilty to kidnapping the boy on
August 23 at Changaa estate in Maralal town, Samburu county.
He also pleaded guilty to a second count of registering an Mpesa account using a stolen identity card.
The prosecution told the court that on the material day, the boy’s mother Joy Lekimain left for work leaving her son at the care of the house help.
At around 1pm, she received a call from the accused, who is also her cousin, informing her that the child was missing.
"I reported the matter to Maralal police station after searching for the baby all over," Lekimain
told the court.
Shortly after, she received a call from an unknown person informing her that her child was safe and the caller switched off the phone.
The court further heard that on August 25, Lekimain received a message from the same number demanding Sh4,000 for the child's upkeep.
She sent Sh2,500 and noted that the transaction recipient was a Daniel Gakure Mungai.
The prosecutor further said that on August 26, Lekimain received another message demanding her to send Sh170,000 before August 29.
“The caller warned that if the demand is not met they should not blame him for what would happen to the child.” The prosecutor said".
He said that the police traced the mobile number to Ichunga village in Nanyuki, Laikipia county where they arrested the accused in a rented room and rescued the child.
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They also recovered two ID cards, a mobile phone and SIM card used to contact the boy's mother.
The ID cards belonged to Daniel Mungai and Rose Lesimalele which were produced in court as evidence.
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In mitigation, the accused said that the kidnapping was a practical joke that went bad.
He also apologised to the family, saying he was about to sit his KCSE.
But the magistrate said the offence is a danger to national security and sentenced him to seven years for kidnapping and one year for registering an Mpesa account using a stolen identity card.
The sentences will run concurrently.