JUDGMENT
The appellant who was originally charged with the murder on May 21, 1981 of a man called Isaac Kibiru Githiongo, was after trial convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment. He has appealed against both the conviction and sentence.
The appellant stabbed the deceased with a knife many times. Joyce Wagaitheri Gitonga (PW 3), and Dinah Wanjiku Maina (PW 4) who both knew the appellant and the deceased, saw him do it from a distance of about 30 paces. Kabiru died at the scene of attack. Joyce and Dinah screamed and the appellant ran to and locked himself in his house. Many people responded, broke into the appellant’s house and arrested him and he showed them a blood-stained knife behind his house. He himself was wearing a blood-stained jacket when re-arrested by Chief Inspector Gideon Muli.
The post-mortem examination of the deceased’s body revealed that the cause of death was cardio-respiratory failure due to hemorrhage into brain due to penetrating injuries. In…