Man convicted of illegal gun possession pleads with court for leniency
A youthful man arrested with a gun in Kariobangi and later found guilty of unlawful possession of the firearm appealed for leniency, urging the court to consider his plight as a young man.
Geoffrey Muchiri was facing charges of being in possession of a firearm without a certificate in violation of the Firearms Act, and preparation to commit robbery.
He was only convicted of the offence of having the unlicensed gun.
The convict was arrested on December 27, 2018 by three police officers on patrol who found him and others at a corner where they were suspected to have been waiting to waylay pedestrians and rob them at around 9pm.
The cops in plain clothes engaged the suspects in a chase and arrested Muchiri even as his three accomplices managed to escape.
He was found with a homemade gun hoisted on the right side of his waist.
During Muchiri’s trial, superintended of police Florence Karimi, a ballistics expert, told the court that she examined the gun on May 5 last year and found it to have a capacity to fire.
Muchiri however denied the charges during the trial claiming that he passed through Kariobangi to buy some fries on his way home from work.
He alleged that he found 15 people being rounded up by four policemen and one of the cops in civilian clothes assaulted him and asked for his bag before he was taken to police station.
he also claimed that the cops demanded a bribe but his mother who visited him while in custody had only Sh 4, 000.
But senior resident magistrate Jackie Kibosia said the offence of possession of firearm was proven.
He will be sentenced on March 23 after probation department tables his social inquiry report.