Self-confessed teen gangster jailed for six years for attempted violent robbery
A 19-year-old robber who jumped into a home in Langata to escape a lynch mob that cornered and killed his two accomplices will serve a six-year-jail term for attempted robbery.
James Okello was handed the sentence by Chief Magistrate Abdul Lorot of Kibera law courts after he admitted to the charges and the facts of the case.
Okello and his two accomplices had attempted to rob Rose Nduku Kioko of her mobile phone along Kitengela road in Langata, Nairobi on October 11.
During the incident, Ms. Kioko was blocked by a boda boda rider carrying two pillion passengers who then alighted and demanded her phone at around 1pm.
As she reached for her phone inside her handbag, one of the criminals brandished a knife and stabbed her on the thigh and stomach while demanding the bag.
It is then that she raised an alarm prompting a guard at a nearby residence to intervene.
The private security guard knocked down one of the suspects with a rungu and rescued Ms. Kioko and was joined by members of the public who managed to restrain the two suspects.
But Okello fled into a nearby home where he took cover as the members of the public lynched his two accomplices and torched their motorcycle.
One of his accomplices was tied to the motorcycle they had been riding before it was set ablaze and the other was stoned to death by the irate mob.
He was saved by the police officers who arrived at the scene and arrested him before the lynch mob broke into the home he was hiding in.
“The accused is a young man of 19 years. He actually looks younger. His two accomplices were lynched by members of the public. He is distraught. I believe he will reform,” Lorot said.
“But the offence is as heinous as it is serious. The complainant was stabbed and bled profusely from the stomach and the left lateral side of the thigh.
“This was nearly life threatening. The accused will serve six years imprisonment. I hope he will learn from his near mis-experience with death.”
Okello broke down into tears as Lorot reminded him of his escape after admitting to all the facts of the case.
Okello said he had been kicked out by his landlord and pledged never to repeat the offence.