DANIEL GITAU NJOKI & JOSEPH KINYANJUI V. REPUBLIC

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

[1] Daniel Gitau Njoki (the 1st appellant) and Joseph Kinyanjui (the 2nd appellant) and one Titus Njihia Njoki were jointly tried and convicted by the Chief Magistrate’s Court at Kiambu for the offence of robbery with violence contrary to Section 296(2) of the Penal Code. The trial court acquitted Titus Njihia Njoki for lack of evidence while the 1st and 2nd appellants were each sentenced to death. Being aggrieved by the conviction and sentence, the two appellants appealed to the High Court.

[2] Upon hearing the appeals the learned Judges of the High Court (Ojwang’ and Warsame, JJ. (as they then were), dismissed the appeals finding inter alia that: the trial court effectively and properly appraised the evidence and came to the right conclusion that appellants were properly identified as having taken part in the robbery; that in the circumstances of this case, the doctrine of recent possession was applicable; and that the alibi defence put forward by the appellants …