JAMES MWANGI & JOHN GABRIEL GITAU KAMAU V. REPUBLIC

JUDGMENT

The appellants, James Mwangi and John Gabriel Gitau Kamau, were the fourth and first appellants respectively in the High Court. They were convicted by a senior resident magistrate with three others, namely, Joseph Nganga Kalumba, Anthony Mwangi Nduma and Edward Kabui Kariuki of robbery with violence contrary to section 296(2) of the Penal Code (cap 63) and sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment with eighteen strokes each. Their appeals were dismissed in the High Court by Bennett J. Joseph, Anthony and Edward do not appear to have appealed to this court. We allowed the appeals of James and Gabriel and reserved our reasons which we now give.

On November 4, 1970 in the morning between 9.30 and 10.00, a gang of armed robbers entered the Naivasha Agency Branch of the Barclays Bank DCO and after ordering the bank staff and customers to lie down, they stole Kshs 164,499.10, the property of the bank. They were said in evidence to have also stolen a cheque book, a current account debit…