A man who used violence to terrorize his victims at random will serve his entire life in prison before being hanged.
Erick Osewe Acholla’s second attempt to regain his freedom was rejected by a Kisumu appeals court. It was his second attempt to overturn a robbery with violence conviction, but he was unsuccessful.
The November verdict is significant because it comes at a time when the country is dealing with a wave of vicious robbery with violence incidents in major cities, leaving victims injured, if not dead.
Crime and policing experts argue that the country’s crime wave can be contained through effective collaborative work by all players in the justice system, including the courts, rather than just the police.
Indeed, SF Group, a security and risk management firm, warned on Thursday that unless the criminal justice sector’s synergies are harnessed faster, the wave could worsen in the coming weeks as the holiday season begins.
“The threat of opportunist crime is likely to increase ahead of the holiday season,” it said, “including a heightened risk of burglary of unoccupied residences as the holidays approach.”
A three-judge appellate bench convicted the dreadlocked man and sentenced him to death based on the testimony of five prosecution witnesses.
