Suspect in Eastleigh's Sh3.9 million violent robbery remanded for 2 more weeks

Serial robbery suspect Julius Osoro, who was charged with violently robbing Eastleigh businessman Adan Ali Mohamed of Sh3.9 million in US dollars nearly two months ago, will remain in custody until May 30 while awaiting a ruling on his bail and bond application. 

Principal Magistrate Monica Kivuti of Makadara Law Courts extended the remand orders to enable the State Department of Probation and Aftercare Services to complete Osoro's social inquiry report.

Osoro will be detained at the Nairobi Area Remand and Allocation Prison in the Industrial Area pending the completion of the report. 

Since April 11, the probation office has not been able to interview Osoro, his family, and other individuals to compile the report that will assist the court in determining the suspect's suitability for bail and bond terms pending the hearing of his case. 

Osoro was charged on May 2 with robbing Mohamed, who was attacked and shot by men riding on a motorcycle along Muratina Road on March 26 this year before being robbed of the cash.

The armed men had trailed him as he left the BBS Mall, at the heart of the Eastleigh Business District. 

Charges preferred 

The suspect was charged with carrying out a violent robbery in contravention of Section 295 and read with Section 296 (2) of the Penal Code, which is punishable with a death sentence only upon conviction. 

He denied the charges before Principal Magistrate Monica Kivuti and filed a bail and bond application through his lawyer, Moses Nyamanga. 

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) opposed Osoro's bail and bond application through prosecution counsel Myra Chepkwony, who filed an affidavit sworn by Sergeant Fredrick Obiero of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI's) Starehe offices. 

The state, through the two institutions, argued that Osoro is unsuitable for bail and bond and should remain in custody during his trial.

They added that the penalty (death sentence) awaiting Osoro if he is convicted is likely to encourage him to flee, inviting the court to determine if the suspect was in any gainful employment.

Osoro was arrested along Dennis Pritt Road in Kilimani on April 9 and escorted to his home in Greenpark Estate in Athi River Sub County, Machakos County, where the DCI officers allegedly recovered a pistol and seven rounds of ammunition, among other items. 

Investigations by the DCI's ballistics experts allegedly established that a spent cartridge collected at the scene where Eastleigh businessman Adan Ali Mohamed was shot was fired from the Ceska pistol that was recovered from Osoro's home.  

Adan sustained injuries to the spinal cord and has been in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a hospital in Eastleigh since the incident. 

Sgt. Obiero told the court on May 2 that the investigations by the ballistics section also established that the pistol allegedly found on Osoro had been used in five other robberies in Nairobi and its neighbourhoods that were under investigation before the suspect was arrested. 

They include one committed along Juja Road in Starehe sub-county on March 28, two days after Mohammed was robbed.

In an affidavit filed before Principal Magistrate Kîvuti, Sgt. Obiero said that Osoro committed the robberies with an accomplice at large but declined to reveal his identity during investigations. 

The detective wants the court to consider the character and antecedents of the suspect, whether Osoro was in any gainful employment and the safety of the victims before deciding whether or not to release him on bond. 

But Nyamanga maintains that Osoro should be perceived as a suspect who is innocent until proven guilty, adding that prosecution counsel Myra Chepkwony and Sgt. Obiero's claims are based on mere apprehensions that the suspect will escape the court's jurisdiction.