JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
The appellant, Peter Mwaura Nganga, was tried and convicted by the Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court, Nanyuki, (R.N. Muriuki), for the offence of defilement of a girl under the age of 16 years, contrary to section 145 (1) of the Penal Code. Upon his conviction, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He appealed to the High Court challenging both conviction and sentence. That court (Kasango, J) after re-evaluating the evidence, upheld the conviction, but reduced the sentence to 30 years imprisonment on the ground that the same was “harsh” given that the appellant was a first offender.
The evidence before the trial court which that court and the High Court accepted, was that at about 12 noon on 13th March, 2003, N.N (the complainant), aged eight years, accompanied her father to the river, to feed the cows. As the father, T.N (PW1) continued watching over the cows, he sent the complainant back to the house to warm the food. Just before she reached home, she met her u…