A Milimani court yesterday directed that a man shot after jumping over State House fence be treated for two more months for a mental disorder before taking a plea.
“The accused still requires medical attention and therefore he is still not fit to take a plea,” chief magistrate Francis Andayi said.
JKUAT engineering student Brian Bera, 25, was shot by police officers manning the State House as he tried to access it through the fence on June 10.
He was treated before being arraigned on July 3, when the judge ordered that he be treated for mental illness.
When he appeared at a Milimani court on Wednesday, Bera said his forceful entry into State House was aimed at saving the many jobless youths in the country.
He told the court that he was a grown-up and wanted his father barred from interfering with his life.
Bera insisted that he neither wanted to go to a mental facility nor brush shoulders with the police and doctors because he could 'kill them'.
He pleaded with the court for a second time to forgive him and have him released.
On the judge's orders Bera will, therefore, be under medication for a period of two months and will appear in court on October 9.
Last month, Bera apologised to the President and the court promising not to repeat his actions.
Bera’s father gave an account of his son’s mental condition when he testified last month.
“Brian was diagnosed with a psychotic disorder after three encounters where he walked long distances with no cause,” his father, Kevin Bera, said.
Kevin said his son once walked from 6pm to 2pm the following day.
“He left our home in Kitale and walked to a place known as Lortum in West Pokot, in January last year,” Bera said.
In February the same year, Brian left Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Juja and walked over 100 kilometres to Mt Kenya and tried to climb the mountain illegally.
“He was arrested and locked up at Naromoru police station,” Bera said.
Three months later, Kibet once again set from home in Kitale and walked to Athi River.
“We located him and took him to Eldoret where he was diagnosed with mental disorder by a psychiatrist,” he said.
Kevin said after months of treatment, his son improved a lot.
(edited by O. Owino)
