JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
Peter Njunge Kuria alias "Brigadier" (the appellant) was convicted of robbery with violence contrary to section 296 (2) of the Penal Code and sentenced to death. The particulars of the charge were that on 10.5.1997 at Gatitu Market in Nyeri District within Central Province, jointly with others not before the court armed with a dangerous weapon namely a pistol, robbed Ndigithe Kariuki of a motor vehicle registration number KYV 541 Toyota Hilux valued at Shs.600,000/- and at or immediately before or immediately after the time of such robbery used actual violence on the said Ndigithe Kariuki and wounded Bernard Kabue Githiomi and David Mwangi Gathaka.
The trial magistrate accepted the evidence of two witnesses who identified the appellant as one of the robbers. He also admitted after a trial within a trial a charge and caution statement made to the police by the appellant in which he confessed his participation in the robbery. The appellant retracted the statement al…