St Patrick's Iten student jailed for arson, to write KCSE from Kamiti

Fire at St Patrick’s High School in Iten on July 26, 2016. /FILE
Fire at St Patrick’s High School in Iten on July 26, 2016. /FILE

A KCSE candidate at St Patrick's High School has been sentenced to four months in jail by an Iten court for torching a dormitory.

An Iten magistrate's court found the 17-year-old orphan guilty of burning the Sh3.5 million dorm at the school on July 26, 2016.

The boy will serve his term at Kamiti Maximum Prison (Youth Correctional Training Centre).

He might write the national exam that will be done between November 2-28 behind bars.

Equity Bank has withdrawn its sponsorship following the charges. The boy was a recipient of the "Wings to Fly" scholarship programme.

Iten senior principal magistrate Hezron Nyaberi was told the accused told a schoolmate he would bring down a dorm. After 20 minutes, a dormitory went up in flames.

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Two other students charged with arson were acquitted for lack of enough evidence.

A witness, who is also a student at the school, told the court he saw the accused entering a dorm and getting out with a mattress which he placed on a wall.

"Shortly, there was an explosion followed by a huge fire. I saw a student who had covered his head with a blazer run towards the staff quarters," the witness told the court.

Former school principal Wilson Yego told the court the oil used to torch the dorm was in the hall. It was being used for marking the playground in preparations for a sports event.

Giving the verdict, Nyaberi said by the accused bragging he demonstrated his intention to willfully and unlawfully set the dorm on fire.

"I, therefore, order that the offender be committed to the Kamiti Youth Correction Centre for four months," he ruled.

In mitigation, the accused asked for a non-custodial sentence. "I'm a candidate and an orphan. Equity Bank has withdrawn its sponsorship," he said.

"I've suffered enough, I want to complete my studies."

The correctional centre rehabilitates youth aged between 17 and 21 years who have been convicted.

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