{"id":116891,"date":"2025-06-21T09:04:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T09:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/06\/21\/appeal-court-upholds-life-sentence-for-man-convicted-of-defiling-4-year-old-girl\/"},"modified":"2025-06-21T09:04:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T09:04:20","slug":"appeal-court-upholds-life-sentence-for-man-convicted-of-defiling-4-year-old-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/appeal-court-upholds-life-sentence-for-man-convicted-of-defiling-4-year-old-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"Appeal court upholds life sentence for man convicted of defiling 4-year-old girl"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAKURU, Kenya, Jun 21 \u2014 The Court of Appeal sitting in Nakuru has dismissed an appeal challenging a conviction and life sentence in a defilement of a four-year-old girl in Molo.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wesley Kiplangat Kirui had moved to the Court of Appeal to challenge the sentence delivered in 2012 after an unsucessful attempt at the High Court in 2019.<\/p>\n

In a unanimous decision, the three-judge bench composed of Justices John Mativo, Mwaniki Gachoka, and Weldon Korir, found the appeal lacked merit both on conviction and sentencing grounds. <\/p>\n

The court ruled that Kirui was properly convicted and that the mandatory life sentence imposed under the Sexual Offences Act was both lawful and appropriate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are satisfied that, ultimately, the prosecution discharged its burden of proof to the required standard,\u201d the judges stated in a judgement delivered on Friday. <\/p>\n

\u201cAccordingly, the appeal against the conviction lacks merit and it is hereby dismissed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kirui was originally charged in 2010 for defiling MCM, a child aged just four years at the time, at Oinoptich village in Molo District. <\/p>\n

The attack occurred on April 14, 2010, and was witnessed by the child\u2019s brother and their mother, who caught Kirui in the act and raised the alarm.<\/p>\n

Severe injuries <\/h2>\n

Evidence presented during trial, including the testimony of the minor, her parents, medical reports, and several eyewitnesses, confirmed the gruesome nature of the crime. <\/p>\n

The complainant suffered severe injuries, including a torn hymen and bleeding, as confirmed by a clinical officer who examined her.<\/p>\n

Kirui was convicted in March 2012 and sentenced to life imprisonment. <\/p>\n

He appealed to the High Court, which upheld the conviction and sentence in June 2019. <\/p>\n

Persisting with a second appeal, Kirui argued that the sentence was excessive, the charge sheet defective, and that his constitutional rights had been violated.<\/p>\n

However, the appellate court rejected those arguments, citing recent jurisprudence from the Supreme Court upholding the legality of mandatory life sentences under Section 8(2) of the Sexual Offences Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no discretion to reduce the sentence set out therein,\u201d the bench stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe recent decisions of the Supreme Court in Republic v. Joshua Gichuki Mwangi<\/em> and Republic v. Manyeso<\/em> have affirmed that the mandatory nature of life sentence under section 8(2) is lawful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Court affirmed both the conviction and sentence by the lower court.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, we find that the present appeal is unmerited. Accordingly, we affirm the conviction and uphold the sentence.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAKURU, Kenya, Jun 21 \u2014 The Court of Appeal sitting in Nakuru has dismissed an appeal challenging a conviction and life sentence in a defilement of a four-year-old girl in Molo. Wesley Kiplangat Kirui had moved to the Court of Appeal to challenge the sentence delivered in 2012 after an unsucessful attempt at the High […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116891\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}