DPP urges court to uphold death sentence for students who killed Narok taxi driver

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Milimani Law Courts, Nairobi.

The Director of Public Prosecution has urged the High Court to uphold the death sentence handed to two high school students for the death of a Narok taxi driver.

Through Senior Principal prosecution counsel Duncan Ondimu, the DPP wants the High Court to uphold the trial court’s verdict and to sentence Bashir Ibrahim and Ibrahim Abdullahi alias Alushi for violently robbing and killing the taxi driver.

Ondimu told Justice Francis Gikonyo that the prosecution had discharged its burden of proof and evidence tendered in court was not in any way discredited during cross-examination.

“Taking into account all the evidence on record adduced by the prosecution and in the circumstances of the case, the prosecution did discharge its burden and prosecution evidence tendered in court was not in any way discredited by the convicts during cross-examination,” Ondimu submitted.

The court heard that the sentence was proper and the appeal lacked merit.

The prosecution said that considering the circumstances the deceased met his gruesome death, the two do not deserve any mercy from the honourable court nor the court of public opinion.

The convicts had allegedly robbed the deceased, killed him and then put him in the trunk of the car. 

It is alleged that the two had pretended to be clients and asked the deceased to drive them before violently robbing and killing him.

They then started driving the said vehicle with Bashir saying that he had been given the car by his father.

At one point before their arrest, a friend of the convicts asked them what the strange smell inside the car was but Bashir did not reply.

They proceeded to drive to Nakuru where they were arrested.

The two were charged alongside another on 5th April 2016 and after 26 prosecution witnesses and five defence witnesses testified,  the two were found guilty on 17th December 2019.

Their co-accused, Solomon Ndiru Njeri pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to three years in jail.

In his confession statement, Njeri told the court that Bashir had a gun and knew about guns from movies.

He added that on the fateful day, Bashir picked him up from school. Njeri sneaked out and Bashir gave him a change of clothes before they proceeded to board the taxi.

According to Njeri, they showed the taxi driver the gun before car jacking him. The convicts then started to hit the driver with a metal as Njeri watched.