A 19-year-old student who allegedly assaulted a police officer along Kamiti Road, Nairobi and robbed him a communication gadget will remain in custody until June 5 pending formal application from the prosecution denying him bail.
Ian Njoroge on Tuesday appeared before Milimani Principal magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi and denied three counts.
Njoroge is accused of robbing Corporal Jacob Ogendo, a police communication gadget and a mobile phone valued at Sh50,000.
He faced a second count of beating up the officer and causing grievous harm to him.
The prosecution told the court that Njoroge resisted arrest by the said officer Ogendo who at the time of the resistance was acting in the due execution of his duty.
The prosecution opposed his release on bail saying the investigating officer has not finished recording statements from officers who are witnesses.
The prosecution requested for three days to finish taking statements and file a formal application to deny him bail.
The defence led by lawyer Duncan Okatch and Soyinka Lempaa said there are no compelling reasons to deny the accused bond.
They urged the court to release Njoroge on lenient bail.
According to them the right to bond can only be curtailed when the accused person has been deemed a flight risk who will not attend court and can interfere with witnesses.
Further, Okatch said the officers who arrested the accused in his mother’s house molested him and he fainted two times.
“When he was arrested they molested him in the house of the mother that caused him to faint two times,” Okatch told the court.
At the police station, the lawyer said the officers beat him and the clothes he had, had blood stains and that the officers took photos without shame.
“He is young and still innocent. Please grant him bail. The officers confiscated his mobile phones and his student ID. They should be returned,” he said.
The police should not treat the accused as a dog, the lawyers said.
“He was escorted in court by 21 police officers. He is a victim of state insolence.”
The magistrate directed that Njoroge be taken to Kenyatta National Hospital for treatment and be remanded at Industrial Area Prison.
Njoroge was also arraigned for another case facing other three counts at the Traffic court.
The counts relate to causing obstruction, carrying excess passengers in a Nissan Note vehicle and disobeying verbal directions given by an officer.
Senior principal magistrate Martha Nanzushi released him on a cash bail of Sh60,000 or a bond of Sh100,000.
The matter will be mentioned on June 18, for pretrial purposes.
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