A Nairobi Shopkeeper who killed a man during an argument over an excess packet of milk has been sentenced to serve five years in jail.
However, Henry Mugambi Gitonga will not serve any further jail term as the court ruled that since he has been in remand since 2018 then the sentence will apply from then to now.
Justice Kanyi Kimondo while sentencing Gitonga this morning, said he had considered his mitigation and the seriousness of the offence.
“I accordingly sentence the accused to serve five years imprisonment, the accused has been in prison custody throughout, the sentence shall accordingly run from January 12, 2018, the date when he was first arrest and taken into custody,” the court ruled.
Justice Kimondo said according to the probation report, the accused is a first offender and he acknowledges that had he not allowed to be consumed by anger and impatience over a petty argument, a life would not have been lost.
“He has no doubt had sufficient time to reflect and introspect on his conduct during his ling incarnation, sentence should be commensurate to the moral blameworthiness of the offender,” the judge said.
In the case, Gitonga had pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and a plea agreement was recorded on March 10 this year.
Justice Kimondo said from court records, the deceased used to hawk milk in Mathare North area and the accused was running a shop there.
On that fateful day, an argument ensued over an excess packet of milk given to Gitonga and the deceased did not want to buy whereas the latter insisted that he must do so.
“In the cause of the argument the accused threw the packet of milk to the deceased who put it back on the counter. That’s when the accused followed the deceased and stabbed him in the chest with a knife and he succumbed to the wound immediately,” the judge said.
The autopsy confirmed that the cause of death was due to the stab wound inflicted on him by Gitonga.
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