Man Gets Light Sentence for Killing Friend in a Bar During a Fight over a Woman

A Kenyan who stabbed his colleague to death in a bar following a fight over a female reveller has been handed a three-year non-custodial sentence.

Mr Moses Kanyi Muchiri, 28, was found guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter since there was no intention to kill.

Justice Teresiah Matheka also noted that he committed the offence under the influence of alcohol and the deceased was his friend.

Mr Muchiri killed Samuel Muchungi Njoroge alias Kigumo at Ndunyu market on December 25, 2013. He stabbed the deceased with a knife on the chest after an altercation over a woman while drinking beer.

A post-mortem report indicated that the deceased succumbed to the fatal stab wound which caused his lungs to collapse.

The State did not present the female reveller, who was at the centre of the love triangle in court to testify.

In mitigation, counsel for the accused person Mr Gathiga Mwangi said that the accused was a person of good character, with a very young family, one who was a year old.

He said Mr Muchiri, who suffers from epilepsy, had relocated from the area where the offence had happened.

A pre-sentence report conducted by probation officer Moses Muchuku indicated that Mr Muchiri no longer takes alcohol following the incident.

“The family of the victim declined to participate in the sentencing process by refusing to be interviewed for the victim impact statement. The report indicated that he (victim’s father) was very bitter and whatever he was being asked to do would not bring back his child,” said the judge.

In her sentence, the judge ordered Mr Muchiri, with the assistance of the probation office, to find the family of the deceased so that he can apologize.