A 24-year-old man will serve a seven-year jail term after he was found guilty of assaulting a police officer.
In a statement on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) noted that Kakamega Principal Magistrate J. J. Masiga read out the sentence which established that the convict willfully assaulted the police officer.
The convicted person identified as Tyson Kayesi committed the offence in May 2024 when he attacked a law enforcement officer and inflicted bodily harm.
“The accused person, Tyson Kayesi, is reported to have assaulted a police officer in the month of May 2024 while on official duty causing him harm as per the P3 form produced in court,” a statement shared by ODPP read in part.
Before he was sentenced, Kayesi had refused to take a plea on two occasions. However, on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, he took a plea and pleaded guilty to all the four counts that were levelled against him.
During the trial, the prosecution counsel Moraa Atandi submitted that the court should uphold the minimum sentence as prescribed by the law.
However, the Kakamega Magistrate slapped Kayesi with a seven-year-imprisonment term arguing that the issue of assaulting police officers was becoming rampant in the country.
“In delivering the judgement, the Magistrate noted that the offence of assaulting police officers is becoming rampant nationwide and therefore a custodial sentence is the most suitable for purposes of deterrence to the community and for any person intending to commit that offence,” ODPP’s statement added.
