RULING
1. On 23.07.2026, I made the following orders:
In the circumstances, I make the following orders:
a) The Appeal on conviction and sentence is allowed. The conviction and sentence are set aside. The appellant is set free unless otherwise lawfully held.
b) The appellant’s name be removed from the register of sexual offenders.
c) Right of appeal 14 days.
d) The file is closed.
2. Today, the matter was placed before me for directions, as the appellant, who is otherwise entitled to be a free man, has, for the past two months, remained in prison custody without being released.
3. The reason for the appellant’s continued detention is now apparent. The names in the committal bundle differ from those in the judgments of both this Court and the court below. The committal warrant relates to the sole accused person in Karatina SO No. 28 of 2019.
4. I was urged to rectify the name appearing in the judgment so as to conform to that contained in the committal warrant. I decline to do so. A judgment is a record of what the Court determined on the basis of the proceedings before it and cannot, merely to cure an administrative discrepancy, be altered to reflect a different name.
5. I have, therefore, painstakingly perused the following documents:
a. Charge sheet
b. The lower court judgment delivered by Hon. Kaimenyi Kanyiri, PM, Karatina, on 09.04.2025, sentence on 09.07.2025
c. Petition of appeal
d. Appellant's submissions
e. Respondent's submissions
f. High Court judgment
g. Probation report.
h. Committal warrant and
i. Release order.
6. All the documents, except the last 2, concern the same person, George Kigatia Gikuju. He was the accused and the Appellant in this matter. The appeal challenged both the conviction and the sentence, arising from the judgment of Hon. Kaimenyi Kanyiri delivered on 9.04.2025 and the sentence imposed on 9.07.2025 in Karatina MCSO Number 28 of 2019. The Appellant was charged with defilement contrary to Sections 8(1) and (4) of the Sexual Offences Act No. 3 of 2006. The particulars of the offence were that the Appellant, on various dates between April, August and September 2019, at Ihwagi sub-county within Nyeri County, intentionally and unlawfully caused his penis to penetrate the vagina of JMM, a child aged 16 years.
7. He also faced an alternative charge of committing an indecent act with a child contrary to Section 11(1) of the Sexual Offences Act, 2006. The particulars of the offence were that the Appellant, on diverse dates between April, August and September 2019 at Ihwagi subcounty within Nyeri County, intentionally touched the vagina of JMM, a child aged 16 years, with his penis.
8. There was no other accused person in Karatina MCSO Number 28 of 2019. The error arose in the committal warrant, which listed his real name as George Kigaita Gikunju, differing from the alias used in the charge sheet. This has caused unnecessary delay. I summoned the officer in charge of Kamiti Maximum Security Prison to court, who confirmed that the dispute is only about the name. he confirmed that the appellant was the accused person in Karatina MCSO Number 28 of 2019. Having perused the record, I find that whichever name was used, the person released was an accused in Karatina MCSO Number 28 of 2019. This is the one that gave rise to this appeal. I therefore direct that the appellant be released as earlier ordered, whether the warrant is in his real name or the alias used in court.
Order
9. In the circumstances, I make the following orders for avoidance of doubt:
a. Further to the judgment given on 23.07.2026, the appeal on conviction and sentence is allowed.
b. The conviction and sentence in Karatina MCSO Number 28 of 2019 are set aside.
c. The appellant, that is, George Kigatia Gikuju Alias George Kigaita Gikunju ID number 25573540, is set free unless otherwise lawfully held.
d. The officer in charge of Kamiti Maximum Security Prison to confirm release, 10.09.2026, at 10.30 am, when the matter will be mentioned.
e. The appellant’s name be removed from the register of sexual offenders.
f. The file is closed.
DELIVERED, DATED and SIGNED at NYERI this 9 th day of September, the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty - Six. Ruling delivered through Microsoft Teams Online Platform
In the presence of: -
Mr K ihara for the State
Appellant present
Assistant senior Superintendent of Prisons present
Court Assistant – Timothy
1. On 23.07.2026, I made the following orders:
In the circumstances, I make the following orders:
a) The Appeal on conviction and sentence is allowed. The conviction and sentence are set aside. The appellant is set free unless otherwise lawfully held.
b) The appellant’s name be removed from the register of sexual offenders.
c) Right of appeal 14 days.
d) The file is closed.
2. Today, the matter was placed before me for directions, as the appellant, who is otherwise entitled to be a free man, has, for the past two months, remained in prison custody without being released.
3. The reason for the appellant’s continued detention is now apparent. The names in the committal bundle differ from those in the judgments of both this Court and the court below. The committal warrant relates to the sole accused person in Karatina SO No. 28 of 2019.
4. I was urged to rectify the name appearing in the judgment so as to conform to that contained in the committal warrant. I decline to do so. A judgment is a record of what the Court determined on the basis of the proceedings before it and cannot, merely to cure an administrative discrepancy, be altered to reflect a different name.
5. I have, therefore, painstakingly perused the following documents:
a. Charge sheet
b. The lower court judgment delivered by Hon. Kaimenyi Kanyiri, PM, Karatina, on 09.04.2025, sentence on 09.07.2025
c. Petition of appeal
d. Appellant's submissions
e. Respondent's submissions
f. High Court judgment
g. Probation report.
h. Committal warrant and
i. Release order.
6. All the documents, except the last 2, concern the same person, George Kigatia Gikuju. He was the accused and the Appellant in this matter. The appeal challenged both the conviction and the sentence, arising from the judgment of Hon. Kaimenyi Kanyiri delivered on 9.04.2025 and the sentence imposed on 9.07.2025 in Karatina MCSO Number 28 of 2019. The Appellant was charged with defilement contrary to Sections 8(1) and (4) of the Sexual Offences Act No. 3 of 2006. The particulars of the offence were that the Appellant, on various dates between April, August and September 2019, at Ihwagi sub-county within Nyeri County, intentionally and unlawfully caused his penis to penetrate the vagina of JMM, a child aged 16 years.
7. He also faced an alternative charge of committing an indecent act with a child contrary to Section 11(1) of the Sexual Offences Act, 2006. The particulars of the offence were that the Appellant, on diverse dates between April, August and September 2019 at Ihwagi subcounty within Nyeri County, intentionally touched the vagina of JMM, a child aged 16 years, with his penis.
8. There was no other accused person in Karatina MCSO Number 28 of 2019. The error arose in the committal warrant, which listed his real name as George Kigaita Gikunju, differing from the alias used in the charge sheet. This has caused unnecessary delay. I summoned the officer in charge of Kamiti Maximum Security Prison to court, who confirmed that the dispute is only about the name. he confirmed that the appellant was the accused person in Karatina MCSO Number 28 of 2019. Having perused the record, I find that whichever name was used, the person released was an accused in Karatina MCSO Number 28 of 2019. This is the one that gave rise to this appeal. I therefore direct that the appellant be released as earlier ordered, whether the warrant is in his real name or the alias used in court.
Order
9. In the circumstances, I make the following orders for avoidance of doubt:
a. Further to the judgment given on 23.07.2026, the appeal on conviction and sentence is allowed.
b. The conviction and sentence in Karatina MCSO Number 28 of 2019 are set aside.
c. The appellant, that is, George Kigatia Gikuju Alias George Kigaita Gikunju ID number 25573540, is set free unless otherwise lawfully held.
d. The officer in charge of Kamiti Maximum Security Prison to confirm release, 10.09.2026, at 10.30 am, when the matter will be mentioned.
e. The appellant’s name be removed from the register of sexual offenders.
f. The file is closed.
DELIVERED, DATED and SIGNED at NYERI this 9 th day of September, the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty - Six. Ruling delivered through Microsoft Teams Online Platform
In the presence of: -
Mr K ihara for the State
Appellant present
Assistant senior Superintendent of Prisons present
Court Assistant – Timothy