JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
The appellant, Robert Mutungi Mumbi, then aged 46 years old, was on 17th December 2008, convicted by the Chief Magistrates Court, Mombasa of the offence of defilement of a girl contrary to section 8(1) of the Sexual Offences Act, 2006 (the Act). He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. The particulars of the offence, as set out in the charge sheet, were that on diverse dates between 2004 and 16th June 2007 at [Particulars withheld] area in Mombasa District, he committed an act which caused penetration with N K, a girl child aged 9 years old.
Being aggrieved by the conviction and sentence, the appellant lodged Criminal Appeal No. 1 of 2009 in the High Court Mombasa. The prosecution, on the other hand applied for enhancement of the sentence from 20 years to life imprisonment. By a judgment dated 25th April 2013, the High Court (Muya, J.) held that the age of NK had neither been assessed nor proved beyond reasonable doubt. Finding himself handicapped for purposes of…