Man sentenced to nine years for attempted robbery with violence

Murang’a, Wednesday, June 14, 2023

KNA by Patience Wangari

A motorcycle rider was on Monday sentenced to serve nine years imprisonment by a Murang’a court after he was found guilty of theft and attempted robbery with violence.

Jackson Maina faced three counts of theft on diverse dates in February this year together with others not before the court where he was accused of robbing four people of their mobile phones.

On February 12 at Mukuyu area in Murang’a town, Maina was charged with assaulting and robbing two students, Judy Kwamboka and Godfrey Mwangi of their mobile phones.

He further faced charges of stealing phones of two other people on previous dates while riding his motorcycle.

Witnesses who testified before the court said Maina perpetuated the crime with the assistance of two other people who are still at large.

In her testimony, Kwamboka told the court that on the said date, at around 6pm, Maina with his friends were suspiciously riding behind them on a motorbike.

She added that Maina and his friends parked the motorbike in a nearby thicket and approached her and Mwangi threatening them with knives and ordering them to surrender everything they had in possession.

The second complainant, Mwangi, testified that he tried confronting the accused and immediately identified Maina as one of riders who operate in the area. He noted that as he tried to inquire why he was stealing, he was slapped and his phone snatched.

A group of students who were around the scene came to the rescue of the complainants and caught Maina in action. The students arrested Maina and took him to Murang’a police station where he was detained.

In his defence, Maina said that he was stealing to provide for his children and pleaded for leniency, claiming he had a family to look after.

Principal Magistrate, Peter Ndwiga, reviewed the facts tabled and sentenced the offender to seven years for the count of robbery with violence and for the two counts of theft, he was sentenced to one year each. 

The accused was given 14 days to file an appeal if was not satisfied with the sentence.

Courtesy ; K. N. A