The applicant was convicted and sentenced to serve 12 months for the offence of obtaining by false Pretence contrary to Section 313 of the Penal Code.
The applicant has been in custody since the 6th June 2024 and has therefore served 4 months and 3 days.
It is the view of counsel for the state Mr. Chebii Chebii that the applicant’s case is fit for sentence review or reconsideration. The court agrees with the position taken by Mr. Chebii.
The court below having determined that the applicant was to serve 1 year imprisonment should have considered her for a non-custodial sentence taking into account the sentencing guidelines of the judiciary.
The circumstances of each case should always be considered whilst meting out a sentence. The prisons of this country are undoubtedly overstretched and the conditions should not be worsened by imprisoning persons who can otherwise be punished through alternative forms of sentence.
A prison term does not appear to me have been merited in this case. In exercise of the powers conferred upon the court under Section 364 of the CPC and the provisions of Article 165 of the Constitution, this court is inclined to review the sentence of 12 months imprisonment and substitute therefore with the period of 4 months 3 days that the applicant has spent in custody.
I have had occasions to see the Applicant who appears to me fairly aged and deserving of the mercy of this court.
I hereby order that she should be released from custody immediately. It is so ordered. File to be closed.