Officer guilty of manslaughter in Margaret Njeri case

Police officer Salim Mohamed Ahmed, whom a Malindi court has found guilty of manslaughter, following the deah of Margeret Njeri in a boda boda accident in Mpeketoni, Lamu County, January 17, 2015. PHOTO | CHARLES LWANGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The judge dropped murder charges against the police officer, Salim Mohamed, saying he did not intend to kill Margaret Njeri on January 17, 2015.
  • Justice Korir also noted that the deceased did not simply fall from a moving motorcycle but that she fell after the accused used his gun.

  • Justice Korir cancelled Mr Mohamed's bond and ordered him remanded at Malindi GK Prison pending sentencing for the manslaughter offence on October 22.

  • The victim's family thanked the court for ensuring justice and urged the government to compensate them for the costs of pursuing it.

The police officer who threw a gun at a speeding motorcycle, which then got into an accident and left a woman dead, has been found guilty of manslaughter.

The incident in Mpeketoni three years ago left 22-year-old Margaret Njeri dead.

BREAKDOWN

Justice Weldon Korir, who delivered the judgment on behalf of Justice Said Chitembwe in Malindi, dropped murder charges against the police officer, Salim Mohamed, saying he did not intend to kill Ms Njeri on January 17, 2015.

The judge said the incident was accidental as the main ingredient of murder is malice aforethought.

“I do find that there was no intention to cause the death or to commit a felony on the part of the accused,’’ he said on Thursday.

Justice Korir said that although the accused had a right to use his rifle, he used it unlawfully as the circumstances did not call for that.

The judge also noted that Mr Mohamed tried to effect arrest but that his action was "reckless and negligent since he was not under any threat”.

“He ought to have exercised restraint. The fact that a curfew had been imposed due to Al-Shabaab attacks cannot justify the accused’s action," he said.

Justice Korir also said that the deceased did not simply fall from a moving motorcycle but that she fell after the accused used his gun.

“I equally do find and hold that, even going by the accused's own version, that he only extended his riffle to the road on the butt side. Still, the cause of the death can be attributed to the accused’s action. It is the accused who killed the deceased," he said.

SENTENCING

The victims’ mother, Miriam Njeri, accompanied by her sister Ann Njuguna and activists from Haki Africa rights group, shed tears in court as the judge delivered the 54-page judgment.

Justice Korir cancelled Mr Mohamed's bond and ordered him remanded at Malindi GK Prison pending sentencing for the manslaughter offence on October 22.

Speaking to the press outside the court, Ms Njeri and her daughter thanked the court for ensuring justice and urged the government to compensate them for the costs of pursuing it.

Haki Africa Director Hussein Khalid who was also present during the court proceeding said the family should be compensated on reason that the accused was a government officer.