A police officer who colluded with a thug to rob a cashier of over Ksh15 million at gunpoint at Mistsumi Business Park in Parklands now faces a death sentence after a Nairobi court found him guilty of the offence.
Corporal George Onyango Mtere, attached to Ruiru Police Station, was convicted by Milimani Senior Magistrate Bernard Ochoi on Monday, January 29, 2024. The magistrate found the cop and his co-accused, Bernard Ogutu Okech, guilty of the charge of robbery with violence.
“I find that the prosecution has established their case against officers Onyango and Ogutu beyond reasonable doubt and accordingly find them guilty of the offence of robbery with violence and convict them under section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code(CPC),” Magistrate Ochoi ruled.
While convicting the two, Ochoi noted in his decision that the victim of the robbery, Daksha Patel, an employee of Mitsumi Computer Garage based at Mitsumi Business Park, positively identified Onyango and his accomplice Ogutu as the robbers of her handbag.
Patel said the accused persons robbed her at gunpoint inside a lift as she left the building.
She was accosted by the two attackers, both armed with pistols, as she headed to a bank to deposit the money and robbed of her handbag, laptop and mobile phone.
“The gunmen confronted me and others in the lift as we were getting out, one man brandishing a gun asked me to release the backpack l was carrying but l hesitated and Corporal Onyango grabbed the bag which had the money and the two walked away,” Patel testified.
” I find that the evidence of Patel was corroborated by the CCTV footage that was played in court,” Ochoi said.
The Magistrate also convicted three employees working at Mistsumi Business Park namely Albert Oketch Ochola who is the plumber at the building, Wycliffe Marani who is the electrician and Walter Kiverenge Indimali who is the caretaker and supervisor at the building for organising the the robbery and bringing in officer Onyango and Ogutu to rob patel.
According to the evidence tendered in court, the three who were conducting repairs at the building knew she handled huge sums of money in her bag having monitored her movements for several days before the fateful day.
A police officer attached at DCI Parklands who testified in the case revealed to the court that the robbery was a well-planned plot that involved the building’s staff and the robbers.
CCTV footage played in court showed that the officer and his accomplice, while in communication with three employees are said to have remained at the building for about three hours and 40 minutes as they waited for the right time to strike.
The court was informed that the five suspects following the successful robbery incident on December 7, 2020, all met and shared the loot where Officer Onyango who was on annual leave immediately left Nairobi and travelled to his rural village in Ndori, Bondo Sub-County.
The prosecution through the investigation officer informed the court apart from the robbers being identified through the CCTV footage, some of the stolen money from Patel was recovered from the suspect.
At Oketch’s residence in Huruma estate, the police recovered $10,000 (Sh1.1 million) and a speaker.
They then proceeded to Kiverenge’s house in Kangemi where $12,300 (Sh13.5 million) which had been concealed inside an electric tester was allegedly recovered.
At the residence of Marani in Kawangware Congo area, police reportedly recovered $11,000 (Sh1.2 million).
In his judgment, the magistrate stated that all the accused, except for Officer Onyango, admitted that they were found with the said money. They claimed that the money was their personal property and requested the court to order its release to them. The money was in 100 notes of US Dollars.
In convicting the three employees for the offence of possession of stolen property, Ochoi said that they could not explain the possession of the money recovered in their houses.
After the five were convicted the prosecution led by James Gachoka sought for the court to impose the maximum sentence for the offence of robbery with violence.
“We have proved all the ingredients of the robbery with violence that Corporal Onyango was armed with an offensive or dangerous weapon namely a gun and he was in the company of Ogutu who was also armed and used force violence at the time of the robbery. We therefore urge you to impose the death penalty on them,” Gachoka stated.
In his mitigation, Officer Onyango urged the court to be lenient while passing sentence saying and remorseful.
The officer asked the magistrate not to impose the maximum penalty provided for robbery with violence, the death penalty saying he is a first offender.
He said he is a family man with four children claiming that the last born is three months old.
“I urge the court not to impose the harsh penalty on me as no harm was occasioned to the complainant. l am very remorseful and seek a pre-sentencing report before sentencing,” Corporal Onyango told the magistrate.
His co-accused persons sought for the court to have mercy on them saying they regret committing the said offences.
The magistrate ordered for a pre-sentencing report to be tabled in court and the five suspects be detained until February 6 when the court will impose its sentence.
