Four police officers jailed for death of Alexander Monson

Four police officers have been jailed after they were found guilty of manslaughter of Briton Alexander Monson.

Alexander, the son of British aristocrat Lord Nicholas Monson, died in May 2012 in Diani. He was 28 years old.

High Court judge Erick Ogolla said on Monday that the four officers – Naftali Chege, Charles Munyiri, Ismael Baraka and John Pamba –should be held responsible for the death of Alexander.

Chege was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, Munyiri will serve 12 years, Baraka nine years and Pamba 12 years.

However, Ogola said Chege will serve 10 years, Munyiri will serve six, Baraka will serve four and Pamba six years because part of the sentence has been suspended, in line with manslaughter cases. 

The jail term was based on the involvement of each accused person.

Pamba's sentence was suspended for a year as he seeks medical attention. He is expected to start serving on November 22, 2022.

The matter has taken nine years to come to a conclusion.

The court was told that Chege, who is said to have arrested Alexander on that night on May 18, 2012, had served in the police service since 1980s.

Munyiri, who retired from service in December 2013, was the head of the Tourist Police Unit in Diani at the time of Alexander’s death.

 Baraka and Pamba were officers in charge of the OB desk and the cells on the night of the Alexander’s arrest.

According to the four police officers, Alexander died from drug overdose.

Police said he was arrested while smoking bhang at a nightclub in Diani.

But a postmortem confirmed he died from injuries inflicted on his head, scrotum and hand by a blunt object.

An inquest that was set in 2015 also established the death resulted from a blow to the head, inflicted with a blunt object while he was in police custody.

On Monday, Ogola, in a three-hour judgment, said the court had established that Alexander was in good health before he was arrested.

He said by 2.30am on May 19, when Alexander was being booked at Diani police station, he did show any signs of sickness.

The court established that between 3am and 5am, he was taken out of the police cell.

Ogola said it was evident that Alexander was tortured by police officers while in their custody, where he suffered injuries, including one in the head.

“When he was taken out of the cell, that was not recorded by police. It is at that time that the deceased was tortured before he was taken back to the cells. The four accused persons were aware of this, but did not do anything. Therefore, I convict the accused persons to felony of manslaughter,” Ogolla said.

He said even though the court failed to establish who inflicted the injuries on the deceased, there was circumstantial evidence adduced to prove manslaughter.

"Monson was under custody, yet they did nothing to avert his death. You let the deceased down in the hour of need," Ogola said.

Alexander’s father, 66, jetted into the country on Saturday to follow up on the matter of his son’s death.

Lord Nicholas and his ex-wife Hillary told the court that the case should be used as an example for police officers who torture and kill people.

According to Monson, the case had been filled with contradictions and apparent cover-ups.

“Nothing will take away the pain, but we just want closure,” he said,

Hillary said the accused were lucky to be alive, while her only son is dead.

Hillary still lives in Diani. Alexander was staying with her at the time of his death.

In a previous interview with the Star, Hillary said she will never forget the day she saw her son take his last breath while chained to a hospital bed.

“I’m anxious and nervous. I cannot sleep at night because I keep thinking of what the outcome will be. It is a bad situation to be in, especially having spent nine years in the court corridors," she had told the Star.

Edited by A.N