P M M V. REPUBLIC

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

1. The appellant, P M M, was charged and convicted by the Principal Magistrate’s court at Githunguri, Kiambu with the offence of defilement contrary to section 8(1) of the Sexual Offences Act. He was sentenced to serve life imprisonment. His appeal against the conviction and sentence to the High Court was dismissed on 26^th June 2010. He has appealed to this Court complaining that the offence was not proved as required by law; that the evidence presented before the trial court was contradictory; that the trial court shifted the burden of proof to him; that his mitigation was not considered and that the sentence meted out to him is manifestly excessive.

Background

2. On 8^th September 2009 at about 6.00 p.m M. N. M. (PW2) was at her home. She asked her daughter RW (PW1) to fetch tomatoes from a drawer. As her daughter walked back with the tomatoes, PW 2 noticed that her daughter was walking rather slowly and that she was walking with her legs apart. On enquiring from h…