JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
This appeal is against the sentence of 17 years passed on the appellant upon his plea of guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in the course of his trial on a charge of murder.
The original charge of murder was based on the following facts that on the 16th January, 1996, whilst the appellant was serving a term of imprisonment at Hola Prison, he, after obtaining permission to go to the toilet, climbed up the watchtower and snatched a loaded rifle which had been carelessly left behind there by a warder. The appellant had obviously been keeping an eye on what was going on in the watchtower. After getting hold of the loaded rifle, the appellant in trying to escape from the prison, shot dead a warder, Aden Hassan, and wounded another warder, Omar Ahdi Mohammed. During the course of his trial for murder, his counsel, Mr. Mungatana, applied for the charge of murder to be reduced to manslaughter to which the appellant was prepared to plead guilty. Inspite of the glar…