Man gets 11 months jail sentence for assaulting brother with a stick

Nyeri

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

KNA by Wangari Mwangi

A man accused of assaulting his brother and causing bodily harm has been sentenced to 11 months in prison by a Nyeri court.

The accused James Mwangi Kirichu is said to have attacked his brother 49-year-old Gerald Gachunia with a stick in Kiamuiru village, injuring his knees.

The court heard that on August 24, 2022, Mwangi, entered a piece of land whose ownership is yet to be determined by the Nyeri court and started destroying avocado crops. Gachunia decided to take photographs as evidence and that is when the accused started insulting him from the top of the tree.

It was upon descending from the avocado tree that Mwangi pursued his brother with a stick and clobbered him three times on his knees before Gachunia was rescued by a neighbour.

But in his defense, Mwangi, a welder, told the court that he had entered the farm to harvest avocados that he intended to sell. He told the court that on the material day, his daughter had been sent home from school due to her school uniform. According to Mwangi, his brother had sustained knee injuries from a fall as he was trying to run away with the ladder that Mwangi had used to scale up the 10 foot tree.

“I was using a stick to collect the avocados. The complainant came and started taking photos of me. I asked him why and he started pelting me with stones. They took the ladder and started walking. They fell with the ladder and the complainant was hit by the ladder,” Mwangi told the court.

While slapping the accused with an 11 month sentence, Nyeri Senior Resident Magistrate, Mercyline Lubia said she had considered the age of the accused and the fact that his daughter had and his business had been left unattended since he was first remanded in September last year.

“Mitigation considered, the age of the accused person and the time he has spent in remand, the accused person is therefore sentenced to 11 months imprisonment. The time shall start running from September 5, 2022 when he was first remanded,” said the magistrate.

Courtesy ; K. N. A