It is Bruno Mars who sang that he’d catch a grenade for her, setting the bar higher for those who would take a bullet for someone else. And so an employer this week decided to take one for his employee, opting to take plea on behalf of his “rude” driver.
“I appear for the accused person and I pray that I take plea on his behalf because he is a tricky man,” the man told a Kibera magistrate.
But the contents of the charge sheet were so heavy that the magistrate asked him if he understood the gravity of the charges.
“I hope you are aware that when you take plea on his behalf and fail to pay the fine we shall grant you, then you are heading to jail,” the magistrate warned.
After taking in a short breath, the man said he didn’t understand.
“What is the fine, your honour? Asked.
“It only Sh30,000 “ the magistrate said. The man quickly requested for his identity card back and told court that he will look for the suspect to come and answer to his crimes.
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If have to lie, you at least must be good at it. But a man charged with robbery this week denied the counts but ended up implicating himself before the court.
“I have only handled the gun once,” he told a Nairobi magistrate. The magistrate inquired more from him.
“You only handled it once. You are very lucky you handled it. But what were you doing with it?” the magistrate asked.
Realising he had messed up, the suspect resorted to murmuring and not even the magistrate could get what he was saying. He was released on Sh500,000 bond.
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They say lawyers can go to great extent to defend their clients. However, an attempt by a lawyer to use Covid-19 to get lenient bond terms backfired when the suspect contradicted his advocate before court.
“Your honour, my client has exhibited Covid-19 symptoms and he may only be able to pay a realistic bail,” the lawyer had told the magistrate.
But on hearing this, the suspect raised his hand and shouted, “I don’t have Covid, madam” The lawyer said he had been assigned by the suspect’s family, who informed him of his Covid-19 status. The magistrate laughed and granted him Sh20,000 cash bail.