Appellate court upholds Jermaine Grant’s nine-year jail term

British terror suspect Jermaine Grant will continue to serve a nine-year jail term after the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal against the conviction.

Justices Alnashir Visram, Wanjiru Karanja and Martha Koome on Thursday ruled that  the appeal lacked merit.

The judges said they found no fault in the decision of High Court Judge Martin Muya to sentence Mr Grant.

“The consecutive sentences imposed on the appellant are justified, the appeal lacks merit and is dismissed,” said the three-judge bench.

The judges termed the appeal before them as unique noting that the Magistrate’s Court and the High Court agreed on some issues, yet they delivered different decisions.

In his appeal, Mr Grant argued that Justice Muya failed to re-evaluate the record of evidence tendered before the magistrate’s court thereby arriving at an erroneous decision in overturning his acquittal.

“The judge erred in law by ordering that the sentences run consecutively and not concurrently,” argued Mr Grant.

The appellant had initially been acquitted of the nine charges by the then Shanzu Resident Magistrate Anastacia Ndung’u before the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the decision.

Justice Muya sentenced the terror suspect to one-year imprisonment on each of the nine charges he faced following the appeal by the DPP.

The DPP, through Principal Prosecution counsel Jami Yamina, in opposing the appeal said the magistrate misguided herself in law when she said evidence adduced was purely circumstantial.

Mr Grant had been charged at the magistrate’s court with making a false statement for registration of birth and three counts of executing a document by false pretence.