Trader found with bullets acquitted for lack of evidence

Mombasa businessman Noor Jan Mohamed who was on June 12, 2019 acquitted of charges of being in possession of 507 bullets due to lack of sufficient evidence. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Ndegwa ruled that the evidence of the five witnesses who testified in the case could not be relied on.
  • He said there was no evidence presented in court in support of the charges against the Mr Mohamed.
  • Mohamed told the court that he is just an ordinary man who could not have been in possession of such items.

A court in Mombasa has acquitted businessman Noor Jan Mohamed who was accused of being in illegal possession of bullets.

Principal Magistrate Charles Ndegwa acquitted the suspect on grounds that the prosecution had failed to establish its case against him.

“I have carefully analysed evidence adduced. I find that the prosecution has failed to prove charges against the accused person to the required standard. The accused is therefore acquitted for lack of evidence,” he said.

WEAK CASE

The magistrate further noted that failure by the prosecution to call some witnesses who would have enabled the court to know exactly what the suspect allegedly reported to the police further punctured the case.

Mr Ndegwa, at the same time, ruled that the evidence of the five witnesses who testified in the case could not be relied on.

“It is presumed that the evidence of the witnesses who were not called to testify would have been adverse to the prosecution’s case,” he said.

The court noted that although the bullets had been recovered in the man’s room, he explained to the court how they got there hence there was nothing false about the report he made to the police.

MALICE

The magistrate said he read malice in the entire case, adding that there was no evidence presented in court in support of the charges against the Mr Mohamed.

Mr Mohammed was accused of being in possession of bullets without a firearms certificate.

According to the charge sheet, he was found with the ammunition in circumstances which “raised reasonable perception that they were intended to be used in a manner prejudicial to public order”.

The box which was allegedly found in Mr Mohamed's house and which contained bullets. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

FALSE INFORMATION

He was also charged with giving false information to the police. He allegedly informed the police that his sister, Zahara Pote, had ammunition hidden in her room. The police said that after investigations, this information was found to be false.

The businessman had allegedly he committed the offences on January 5, 2015.

While defending himself after being put on his defence, the suspect informed the court that the bullets recovered in his room belonged to his sister and brother-in-law, who are former US military officers.

ORDINARY MAN

He told the court that he is just an ordinary man and that there was no way he could have been in possession of such items.

“I can confirm to this court that the bullets and the box in which they were recovered in belongs to my sister Zahara Pote and her husband Mark Pote. They are not mine, I am just an ordinary Kenyan,” Mr Mohamed defended himself.

Further, the suspect explained that his sister had requested him to assist her dispose off the metal box that contained the bullets into the Indian Ocean.

DISPOSE BOX

He informed the court that his sister had instructed him to re-paint the metal box to change its military colour before disposing it off to either a sewage or into the Indian ocean at Nyali bridge.

During the hearing of the case, the court was informed that a Sh100 million property is the cause of the dispute between the two.

At the same time, drama unfolded outside the court after the businessman was engaged in a fight with an unidentified person who had accompanied the family to the court.

Mr Mohamed was allegedly beaten soon after the judgement was delivered when he allegedly uttered provocative words against his sister.

He was later escorted to Central Police Station to record a statement over the fracas that almost disrupted court sessions.