JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
The appellant, Antony Kiama Muchiri, was alleged to have defiled A.W (A) on two occasions, first on 28th May, 2007 and secondly on 14th July, 2007. The two counts of defilement were laid against the appellant under section 8(1) (2) of the Sexual Offences Act, No. 3 of 2006. The appellant pleaded not guilty to the two charges and between 31st July, 2007 and 22nd January, 2008, he was tried before an acting Senior Resident Magistrate at Mukurweini who found him guilty of the two charges, convicted him thereon and sentenced him to life imprisonment on each charge.
The magistrate was silent on the issue of whether the sentences were to run concurrently or consecutively, with the result that when the appellant appealed to the superior court against the conviction and sentence, Makhandia, J. who heard the appeal rightly assumed that the two sentences were to run consecutively. The learned Judge thought it was not possible for the appellant to serve two consecutive lifeā¦