Man awarded Sh450,000 in compensation for police assault

A man who suffered an eye injury following a beating by police during arrest eight years ago has been awarded Sh450,000 in compensation.

Court of Appeal judges said police officer Paul Mutia violated the rights of Joseph Njoroge when he assaulted him after the arrest.

Judges William Ouko, Gatembu Kairu and Agnes Murgor said in their judgment that Njoroge may need future treatment as a result of the injury.

The noted the man was arrested for no reason and enhanced the compensation from Sh250,000 that was initially awarded by High Court judge David Majanja.

The appellate bench directed that Njoroge be paid Sh450,000 as compensation plus interest.

Njoroge's trouble began on March 11, 2001, when he met three of his friends at Oil Man Cafe in Banana, Kiambu county, for an evening cup of tea.

At around 9pm after leaving café for their respective homes, the four friends met four police officers who stopped them and handcuffed them in pairs.

Njoroge sought to know the reason for their arrest.

Instead of an answer, they were beaten by one of the four officers while being frog-marched to the police station.

The beating continued at the police station where the officer kicked Njoroge on his face and injured his eye. He bled profusely.

He was taken to Karuri Health Center for treatment by some other officers at the station while his friends remained locked up in the cell.

Due to the severity of his injury, Njoroge was transferred to Kiambu District Hospital and later Kenyatta National Hospital where he was treated and discharged the next morning.

Upon his release from hospital, he went back to the police station and was issued with a P3 Form. He later filed a complaint against the officer.

Despite his reporting the incident and even identifying the officer who assaulted him, Njoroge said no action was taken against the officer.

Aggrieved by the decision of the authorities, he filed a case claiming violation of his fundamental rights.

The officer and even the state representatives in the case denied the allegations but conceded that Njoroge was arrested and in the process was injured.

It was their case that four officers were on patrol that night at Banana trading center following complaints that a group of people was extorting money from motorists at the matatu terminus. They claimed Njoroge and his friends were among the seven people suspected of touting and were arrested.

However during the arrest it was claimed that Njoroge got injured while entering police station and was rushed to hospital.

Police indicated that Njoroge got injured when a group of people attempted to rescue him through the barbed-wire fence of the police station. He slid, fell and injured his right lower eyelid, police said.

Majanja found that although there was no evidence of torture, Njoroge established that he was assaulted.

The judge rejected the allegation that Njoroge was injured during a scuffle by people who wanted to rescue him.

He awarded Njoroge Sh250,000 for violation of his rights. But Njoroge found the award inadequate and appealed saying the money was manifestly and inordinately low in view of the nature of the injuries sustained.

Given the grave extent of his injuries, which included lacerations on the right upper and lower eyelid, he was entitled to more, he told the appeal court.

He said his treatment by the police amounted to torture and that as a result of the injury to his eye, he now suffers from excessive watering of the eye which in turn may require surgical revision in the future.

Njoroge urged that a sum of Sh 450,000 would be sufficient general damages to cater for both pain and suffering endured and the costs of future surgical revision of his eye.

“Like the judge, we are persuaded from the facts of this case that the appellant was, for no justification at all assaulted by a police officer,” said the appeal judges.

From the evidence of the assault and the medical report, with respect, we agree with the learned judge that the threshold of torture as defined above was not attained, they noted.

edited by peter obuya