A single mother of five who killed her brother for trying to stop her love affair with an Akorino man has been sentenced to five years in jail after she pleaded guilty.

Pierra Muthoni Francis pleaded guilty to the murder of Severino Mate Francis which occurred on February 1, 2018, at Kaman village. She said she did it in self defence.

Pleading for leniency from court, she said her brother wanting to stop her love affair confronted her with a knife but in the process she stabbed him with the knife. He fell to the ground and later died from the injuries.

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The woman further told the court to have mercy on her because she is a bread winner in her family.

However judge R K Limo noted that what the woman did could not be justified saying she does not have the right to take the life of her brother despite his objections to her relationship.

“I have carefully considered the facts presented to this court regarding the surrounding circumstances that led to the murder of the deceased.  It is clear from the facts that the accused is a single mother of five children and her late father is said to have given her a share of land to settle on . The arrangement appears not to have gone down well with the deceased and his son,” said the judge.

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It is against this background that her late brother got incensed when they learnt of a relationship between the woman and the Akorino man.

Quarrels arose after the late brother and his son went to the house of the accused to question the said relationship.

A fight ensued between the accused and the deceased which resulted into the deceased being stabbed.

The judge noted that though the stabbing was cruel it was not premeditated.

The judge held that the woman deserves to have a chance to reform and perhaps learn to contain her anger. Ruled the judge;

She is hereby sentenced to serve 5 (five) years in prison and thereafter serve 2 years on probation to be supervised by a social worker near her home.  She has 14 days right of appeal.

The judgment was delivered on November 7.

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