Man jailed for 14 years  now set free

A taxi passenger who was sentenced to 14 years in jail for violent robbery has been released after serving half the term.

Mr James Chege Kinyanjui, who was wrongfully convicted in 2008 for a robbery at Kihara in Gachie village, Kiambu, was Tuesday acquitted after the court found he was just a passenger who had hired a stolen car without knowing.

Delivering judgment on Mr Kinyanjui’s appeal, Justices Mbogholi Msagha and Lydia Achode said the trial court blundered.

“We quash the conviction and set aside the sentence and order that he be set at liberty forthwith,” the judges ordered.

They said the defence was “plausible and ought to have been accepted”.

The state counsel in the appeal conceded that Mr Kinyanjui was a fare paying passenger in a vehicle that was being used as a taxi and that he was not involved in the crime.

The judges said Mr Kinyanjui and his co-accused, Mr Geoffrey Ng’ang’a, who was also touted as a co-passenger, were never identified by the complainants.

“The burden of proof was shifted to the defence and not the prosecution. This being a criminal trial, the appellant was under no duty to explain his innocence or at all,” they said.

It had been alleged that on May 15, 2008 at Kihara village and armed with an AK47 rifle, Mr Kinyanjui and his accomplice robbed Mr Samuel Kihumba of Sh5,000, a motor vehicle, a phone and a DVD.