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JudgmentRepublic VS Paulo Kyalo alias Righa alias Boi3 min read

Republic VS Paulo Kyalo alias Righa alias Boi

High Court at Voi High Court · · George. Dulu


SENTENCE RULING

  1. The accused person herein stand convicted of murder contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code.
  2. The particulars of offence are that on 2nd April 2017 at Bosnia (Kwa Tom) village in Taveta Sub-County murdered Anthony Mwangi alias Peter Mwangi.
  3. After conviction, this court called for and received a victim impact report, and pre-sentence report, both prepared by Johnstone M. Kisyang’a Senior Probation Officer Taveta.
  4. The victim impact report concludes by indicating that the deceased person died at 43 years leaving behind a wife and children.  That the wife now is engaged in casual work in farms to feed and educate the children.  That the death of the deceased person dealt a severe blow to the family due to the loss of the bread winner.
  5. The pre-sentence report on the other hand, notes that the accused person is 33 years old and single, and that though he has good family relations, he abuses alcohol and the offence was committed under the influence of alcohol.  It is also noted that the deceased was a father of 3 children of school going age, and that the two families had not taken any initiatives to reconcile.  The report concludes that asking the court to its discretion to determine appropriate sentence.
  6. The learned Prosecuting Counsel Mr. Sirima in his submissions on sentence, relied on the two above reports and the published Sentencing Policy Guidelines 2023 especially the objectives of sentencing.  Counsel in particular emphasized that a weapon, that is machete, was used in the commission of the offence, and urged this court to impose a sentence of not less than 30 years imprisonment.
  7. On her part, learned defence counsel Ms. Munyari emphasized that the accused person is a first offender, aged 33 years and married with one child contrary to what the Probation Officer recorded, and that his had father died and the accused is taking care of his aged mother.
  8. Counsel also mentioned that the circumstances of the offence were that both the accused person and the deceased were drunk at the time of incident, and there was a scuffle between them resulting in the death, which was not intentional.  Counsel added that the accused person and the deceased worked at the same place and that the accused was not a person of bad character.  Further the machete used did not belong to the accused person.
  9. The defence counsel concluded by asking this court to impose a non-custodial sentence, and consider the fact that the accused person was on bond during trial and religiously attended court.
  10. Having taken all the above factors into account, I note that the statutory mandatory sentence for murder is death.  However, in view of recent judicial pronouncements by superior courts led by the Supreme Court, courts have been exercising their judicial discretion to impose lesser sentences depending on the relevant surrounding factors in each case.
  11. In the circumstances of the present case, am not persuaded that a non-custodial sentence is appropriate.  A life was lost and excessive force was used, which could be avoided.  The accused person being a first offender, relatively young and remorseful, I sentence him to eighteen (18) years imprisonment from 7th February 2024 when he was convicted.  Right of appeal within 14 days explained.

Dated, signed and delivered this 15th day of May, 2024 in open court at Voi.

In the presence of:-

Alfred – Court Assistant

Mr. Sirima for State

Mr. Mutinda holding brief for Ms. Munyari for accused

Accused

    Republic VS Paulo Kyalo alias Righa alias Boi Republic VS Paulo Kyalo alias Righa alias Boi