A student who pleaded guilty to charges of sneaking into school a tear gas canister has told a Mombasa court that he was not aware of what he had brought into his classroom.
Appearing before Mombasa principal magistrate Vincent Adet, the student informed the court that he picked the tear gas canister in a police officer's house who had been transferred.
"I got the tear gas canister at Chaani plot in a house that a police officer had left unattended following his transfer on May 27, 2022, and went with it to school. l did not even know what l was carrying, it was not intentional,” he told the court.
The student also pleaded with the magistrate for leniency stating that he is a form four student and he’s suffering in remand," he told the court.
Tear gas canister exploded inside classroom
The court further heard that the tear gas canister exploded inside the classroom causing a stampede which resulted to some of the students sustaining injuries. The injured students were treated at Bomu hospital.
The student had pleaded guilty to charges of unlawfully obtaining and being in possession of a tear gas canister on June 3, 2022, at St Charles Lwanga secondary school in Changamwe sub-county within Mombasa county.
He was further charged with being reckless and negligent causing harm contrary to section 243(c)of the penal code.
The probation officer was ordered to table his report in the court in order to assist the judge make an informed decision on the case.
“The accused person is hereby released on his personal bond the parent who is present in court to provide his details to court and stand surety awaiting the report of a probation officer," Adet said.
