Two officers charged with assaulting lawyer in police station
Two police officers are facing charges of assaulting an advocate at a police station. The officers Benedict Mugo and Moses Labu Kengere were charged before Milimani Law Court Chief Magistrate Wendy Kagendo.
The officers, who are alleged to have assaulted the lawyer, Joseph Kinuthia Nyambura, on January 23, 2022 within Dandora Police Station in Nairobi. They however did not answer to the assault charge preferred against them.
Defence lawyer Danstan Omari urged the magistrate to defer plea taking to enable the parties reach an out of court settlement. Mr Omari asked the court to give room for finalization of the negotiations between the accused and the complainant, which he said were at an advanced stage.
“I urge the court to indulge the two officers to conclude negotiations to resolve this matter out of court. The officers have since approached the complainant with a view of settling this matter out of court,” pleaded Omari.
He added that the constitution encourages Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to avoid clogging of cases in court. The complainant also confirmed to the court that the two officers had approached him and he did not oppose to the request.
The victim’s lawyer, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and International Justice mission and IPOA also did not object to the request but condemned the actions of the two officers for attacking Kinuthia while in his line of duty.
Ms Kagendo directed the matter be mentioned on Monday to allow the two accused persons to settle the matter through ADR, failure to which they shall appear in court for plea taking.
“This case will be mentioned on June 27, 2022 for a report whether a settlement has been reached,” Ms Kagendo ruled.
She further ordered the two officers be detained at Capitol Hill police station until June 27, 2022.
rmunguti@ke.nationmedia.com