- The three had moved to court to challenge the conviction and a seven-year sentence imposed by the trial court.
- The court noted that the offence was rampant and ought to be discouraged by an appropriate sentence.
Image: FILE
Imagine being convicted and handed a 7-year jail term but luck smiles at you and your sentence is cut to 3 years.
That is the story of three men who were accused of stealing and slaughtering their neighbour's donkeys, two to be specific.
The case was occasioned by the events of October 21, 2018, when a woman named Catherine Emmanuel woke up and routinely made her way to the animals shed, to milk her cows.
She, however, noticed that something was amiss and upon looking around the shed, she realised that her donkeys were missing.
A shocked Catherine ran back to the house and informed her husband and son of her findings and search plans were devised.
The two were canvassing the village when they got to the gate of one of the three aforementioned men, one Vincent Sayoriole, and found donkey carcasses ready for loading on a motorcycle.
They alerted Catherine who would identify the carcasses as those of her two donkeys, which she said had special marks.
The incident was reported to the area chief, who ended up saving Sayoriole and his accomplices Michael Monka and Alfred Koileken from an angry mob.
The three were arrested and taken to Kajiado Police Station and later arraigned where they were charged with stealing stock.
When put on their defence, Monka and Sayoriole denied the offence while Koileken opted to remain silent through the proceedings.
They claimed that on the day of the offence, they were attending a ceremony and had not stolen or slaughtered the donkeys.
By the time the trial ended, the court found the three men guilty and convicted them.
They were sentenced to serve seven years imprisonment.
Aggrieved, they moved to Kajiado High Court challenging the prosecution's evidence, saying the offence was not proven beyond reasonable doubt.
The state, however, stated that its evidence was overwhelming and had been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
When the court went through the case, Justice Diana Kavedza found that the state had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
"They produced convincing and credible evidence of stock theft perpetrated by the appellants. I therefore affirm the conviction for the offence of stock theft against the appellants," court documents dated December 8, read.
With their court upholding their conviction, the men could only hope that the sentence would be interfered with.
As luck would have it, the judge observed that the seven-year jail term was excessive for the offence committed.
She set the same aside and ordered that the men compensate Christine and her family Sh16,000 which is the value of the donkeys and in default serve three years imprisonment.
"In my view, the sentence of seven years imprisonment is excessive punishment for the offence of theft of two donkeys valued at Sh16,000. However, I agree that the offence is rampant and ought to be discouraged by an appropriate sentence," Judge Kavedza said.
"In the circumstance, I, therefore, set aside the sentence of seven years imprisonment against the appellants and substitute it with an order of compensation to the complainants of the value of the stock being Sh16,000 in default to serve years imprisonment."