A man who stabbed his mother to death as she tried to pulled him away from fighting his brother has been sentenced to serve 20 years in jail.
Mr Robert Ngeny’s (the accused) appeal for a lenient sentence was not granted by the Appeallate court judge.
The tragedy happened on September 10, 2015, at Kapsiti village in Sigowet/Soin subc-ounty of Kericho. Ngeny killed his mother, Bornes Magut, who was trying to separate him from a fight with his brother.
He entered a plea bargain on March 9, 2016, agreeing to plead to the lesser charge of manslaughter. He was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ngeny appealed the sentence, his lawyer arguing that while sentencing him the court put more weight on the aggravating circumstances of the offence without considering his mitigation.
But the state urged that the sentence be upheld as it was lenient, considering the gravity of the offence.
“According to counsel, the sentence of 20 years imprisonment was lenient and was passed in compliance with the law and Sentencing Policy Guidelines. Counsel highlighted the circumstances of the commission of the offence and asked us to maintain the sentence as passed by the trial court,” the judgment reads.
The court agreed with the prosecution, noting that the maximum sentence for manslaughter is life imprisonment.
“Considering the circumstances of this case, the trial court cannot be faulted for having sentenced the appellant to 20 years imprisonment.”
The judges said the case involved the man attacking and killing his own mother, whose only “mistake” was to plead with him to stop fighting his brother.
“The appellant, despite not being offended by the brother, had engaged in a brawl spanning over 20 minutes and all attempts to stop him fell on deaf ears, ending in the killing of the deceased.”
The judges conceded they did not see the probation report for Ngeny, but still held the man’s offence did not merit a non-custodial sentence.
“Even though we were not able to lay our hands on the probation report, it was said to have been unfavourable to the appellant being given a non-custodial sentence.”
The court ruled that, despite being a remorseful first offender, the appellant needed imprisonment for rehabilitation and atonement for his sin.
“A perusal of the sentencing proceedings confirm that the trial judge was alive to the sentencing principles and did not leave any room for us to step into the sentencing arena,” reads the judgment dated July 26, 2024.
“In the circumstances, we find and hold that the appellant’s appeal against the sentence has no merit. We dismiss the appeal and uphold the sentence of 20 years imprisonment as imposed upon the appellant by the High Court.”
