- Joseph Kamau Chege was jailed by Kibera Principal Magistrate Renee Kitagwa.
- While reading her sentence, the magistrate noted that the accused person was well-identified and the offence of robbery with violence was well proved.
Image: CLAUSE MASIKA
A Kibera court has jailed a man found guilty of robbery with violence for 45 years.
Joseph Kamau Chege was jailed by Kibera Principal Magistrate Renee Kitagwa.
While reading her sentence, the magistrate noted that the accused person was well-identified and the offence of robbery with violence was well proved.
“The question of identification was proved and the prosecution successfully proved the case against the accused person. I have considered both the prosecution and the defence evidence and mitigation and he is hereby sentenced to 45 years in jail,” ruled the magistrate.
The prosecution called a total of five witnesses who testified in the case.
The convict committed the offence on June 9, 2021, at about 2100 hours along Kilimani road in the Kilimani area within Nairobi County, jointly with others not before the court.
He was charged with robbing Esther Wambui Juma, a mobile phone worth Sh45 000, Sh2000, and a national identity card at gunpoint.
“It was at 2100 hours when I was going home accompanied by my colleague who was a chef and upon reaching a certain tower, we were stopped by a motorcycle that blocked our way. Two people alighted and one was left with the rider,” Wambui told the court.
She testified that one of the two men approached her and ordered her to lie on the ground facing the ground.
“I gave him my phone, money and bag, at that moment he withdrew a small gun from his jacket, cocked it and pointed it at me and threatened to shoot me,” she told court.
The complainant told the court that the accused person stole her phone which she had hidden alongside her handkerchief.
The complainant told the court that the convict proceeded to attack her colleague and stole his items.
But the robbery incident flopped after the accused person and his accomplice were knocked down by another motorcycle.
“After they robbed us of our items and left, a certain man who was standing at the traffic lights called us and informed us that the said thieves had been knocked down by a motorcycle. We rushed there recovered some of our items and called the police,” she said.
The accused person was among the arrested persons and was later arraigned.
In court, he said that he was a victim of lost identity. He denied the charges and was released on bond.
During the trial, he told the court that the offence was a plot to get him in jail.
The prosecution evidence however overwhelmed him.
He was given 14 days to appeal.