Man confesses to stealing a hospital theatre bed

Eldama Ravine

Friday, August 4, 2023

KNA by Waithera Kamande & Christopher Kiprop

There was laughter in an Eldama Ravine court after a middle aged man confessed to stealing a hospital operation theatre bed so as to upgrade himself from sleeping on the floor.

Edwin Kiai Kigen was arraigned before Eldama Ravine Senior Principal Magistrate Richard Koech and pleaded guilty of the charges of stealing contrary to section 268 as read with section 275 of the Penal Code.

The particulars of the case were that on 31st day of July 2023, Edwin Kigen was caught by guards at Eldama Ravine sub county hospital while he was trying to steal an operation theatre bed.

The guards were on their routine duty when they spotted the unknown man toward the far edge of the hospital fence.

They went there and met Kigen trying to move a theatre bed through the life fence, arrested him and called the hospital administrator who reported the matter to the Eldama Ravine police station and the suspect was apprehended.

The Prosecution led by Senior Counsel Martha Ndung`u presented to the court the operation theatre bed estimated to be worth Sh150, 000 as exhibit.

On his mitigation Kigen prayed to court to forgive him, “I live in an area where it floods on rainy season and I do not have a bed so I sleep on the floor. As I was walking, I spotted a bed which was abandoned,” stated Kigen.

He said that he was taking the bed to use it for he had been sleeping on the floor for long and the bed would have been of much help to him especially in this rainy season.

In his ruling, the magistrate requested for the pre-sentence report from the probation and psychiatric examination report.

Koech also ordered that the suspect be held in custody at Eldama Ravine GK prison till August 16, 2023 when he would be sentenced.

Courtesy ; K. N. A