A Kilifi man who assaulted another man in 2015 after he went to collect vegetables from his farm, has been handed a six-year jail term.
According to court documents, HSH went to the farm to fetch vegetables from Furaha Charo Kazungu, but he accosted him and inserted his fingers in his anus.
HSH reported the matter to the police and the case was taken to court.
Kazungu was convicted after a magistrate court found the case against the appellant had been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
After considering the mitigating circumstances, the magistrate sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment.
In his mitigation, Kazungu told the court he has been in remand for four years but the magistrate did not take this into consideration when handing him a jail term.
Kazungu unsuccessfully appealed in the High Court but his appeal was dismissed on December 3, 2019.
Undeterred, Kazungu proceeded to the Court of Appeal where a three-judge bench handled his case.
He told the court he was not contesting his conviction but was only aggrieved by the fact that the four years he spent in remand had not been taken into account in his eventual punishment.
If left to stand, he argued, he shall have served a 14 years in jail.
“He [Kazungu] informed us that he was not contesting his conviction, but was only concerned that the four years he spent in custody pending the hearing was not factored in his sentence,” the judgment dated June 7 said.
The judges agreed, holding that the law and judiciary sentencing policy guideline was on the side of Kazungu on the matter. They said the period during which an accused has been held in custody prior to being sentenced must be taken into account.
The appeals court said after factoring in the four years the man had spent behind bars, he will now serve the remaining six.