Businessman Tom Oywa Mboya was sentenced to 20 years in jail by a Nairobi court for attempting to kill Ronalo Food restaurant owner William Osewe by shooting him over a woman in 2016.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku also handed Mboya another three years for the offence of wounding a security guard Wilfred Ombunya Tembula.
Mboya, who is a tour operator, was sentenced on Wednesday mid-morning virtually after considering the probation report tabled in court. The businessman failed to attend a physical court session after he fell sick while at Industrial Area Remand Prison.
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“I have considered the probation report tabled before me and noted that Mboya is not remorseful of his actions”, the magistrate said.
The court also considered the impact of the offence on the victim Osewe who was and still is adversely affected by the criminal act. Lawyer William Ongoro who represented Osewe urged the court to pass a harsh sentence against Mboya as his client.
“I sentence the accused to 20 years in jail for attempted murder charge and three years for wounding a security guard “, Mutuku ruled.
The magistrate, however, ruled that the sentence to run concurrently which means Mboya will serve 20 years.
The sentence comes after last week the court found Mboya guilty of the offences after the prosecution proved its case beyond doubt.
He was convicted for attempted murder and wounding. Osewe and Mboya were fighting over Osewe's wife.
He accused Mboya of sleeping with her. While delivering the judgement, the magistrate noted that the offence of attempted murder is usually committed with an intention of killing the other person.
“I have considered the evidence before court and it is undisputed that Mboya shot Osewe," she said.
The magistrate noted that Mboya fired at Osewe several times as he shouted at him that he would shoot him.
The court further considered the evidence of a security guard who heard him shouting and saw him raise his gun and shoot several times at the complainant.
"It is not in dispute that the accused shot at the complainant. He did so not once but four times", the court said.
The court further said that the doctor who testified in court had said that Osewe had an object in his body and had even developed problems in his genitalia following the gunshot that affected his spinal.
Prosecution counsel Anderson Gikunda asked the court to treat Mboya as a first offender and consider the nature of the case.
In his mitigation, Mboya through lawyer Benjamin Makokha pleaded for a non-custodial sentence saying that failing to do so will be condemning the society that has been depending on him.
“My client is a polygamous family man with several kids who depend on him for survival”, Makokha told court.
