Man Sentenced to Death for Stealing Presidential Escort Car Appeals Ruling

An appeal has been lodged by a man sentenced to death in for stealing a presidential escort car.

On April 13, Aggrey Odhiambo Achieng was sentenced to death for stealing Chief Inspector of Police David Machui’s BMW 735 in August 2014 in Utawala, Nairobi.

The vehicle was valued at Sh1.2 million.

Achieng’s lawyer, Moses Angaya, submitted an appeal with the court on Monday, explaining his reasons for appealing the sentence.

He argued that chief magistrate Francis Andayi misapplied the law by failing to consider the loopholes in the prosecution’s identification of the primary criminal suspect.

Read: Officer Attached To Presidential Escort Unit Arrested For Violating Curfew Orders

The advocate further claimed that the magistrate failed to show that the allegations of robbery with violence and handling stolen goods were supported by sufficient evidence.

He expressed his dissatisfaction with Andayi’s decision to convict his client despite the fact that the witness testimonies were conflicting.

“The learned trial magistrate erred in law in subjecting the prosecution case to a stand of proof below the usual beyond reasonable doubt standard as the eviction was against the weight of the evidence adduced,” said Achieng.

Achieng was charged with four of his accomplices, all of whom were allegedly armed with weaponry, including an AK47 and a pistol.

Another charge was that on August 27, 2014, when stealing the vehicle, they disposed of it knowing it was taken or obtained illegally from the government at London Estate in Nakuru.

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Three days later, security forces from Uganda and Kenya intervened to reclaim the vehicle in the outskirts of Kampala.

Nelson Topicho Mulati, Robert Mande Ochan, Andrew Young Otieno, and Godfrey Ouma Simon were Achieng’s accomplices.

Two of the defendants have died, while the remaining two were acquitted two weeks ago.

Mulati died five months after being freed on a free-bond bail in 2017. Ochan, a Ugandan vehicle salesman, died two years ago in Kampala from natural causes. He had no case to answer, according to the ruling.

Otieno and Simon, both vehicle dealers, were acquitted for lack of evidence.

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