Two men arrested for terrorising Huruma residents while armed with toy pistol jailed

Two men arrested while armed with a toy pistol in Huruma estate in Nairobi were jailed for two years after securing a deal with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions through a plea bargain.

They are Fidel Castro and Joshua Osotsi who were charged with preparation to commit a felony contrary to section 308 (1) of the Penal Code.

They had also been charged with being in possession of an imitation of a firearm in contravention of section 34 (10) of the Firearms Act and were languishing in remand after failure to secure bail and bond terms until the plea bargain deal.

Plea bargaining is an arrangement between ODPP and criminal suspects where the suspects are given the opportunity to plead guilty to lighter charges in exchange for favours where the ODPP drops hostility against them and the deal is always given under specified conditions.

The two criminals had agreed to a jail term of two years if they agreed to plead guilty, during the negotiations with the ODPP.

This saved the court the time and resources in prosecuting them through availing the witnesses in court. But the fake pistol they were found with was tabled in court as an exhibit by prosecution counsel Allan Mogere.

Senior Principal Magistrate Justus Kituku of the Makadara Law courts had however warned the criminals that the agreement between them and the ODPP amounted to pleading guilty to the charges and the court has powers to disregard the sentence suggested in the deal between them and the ODPP and jail them as per the law.

Kituku had also informed the criminals that after pleading guilty to the charges in accordance with the deal, and upon being convicted and sentenced, they can only appeal against the sentence but not the conviction.

But they admitted the charges despite the disclaimer and the magistrate granted the two years jail term proposed by the ODPP and agreed on by the two criminals.

Kituku, however, indicated that the sentence starts from March this year when Castrol and Osotsi were put in remand after being charged.

The court heard that the two were arrested in the Kwa Mbuthia area in Huruma, by police officers who went for the rescue of members of the public who were being terrorised by the two criminals at a local hotel after receiving information about the same.

"Acting on the said information, they (police) managed to arrest Fidel Castrol alias Justo and upon conducting a quick search, they managed to recover an imitation of a firearm – silver in colour wrapped with a black cellotape hidden in his left side of the jacket pocket," stated Mongere.

"Upon interrogation, he was able to lead them (police) to the second suspect (Osotsi) at his place of work being a salon which he operates within the Mbuthia estate. The two were then arrested and placed at Huruma police station after which an inventory was prepared and duly signed by both. They were later charged with these offences before the court."

The criminals confirmed to Magistrate Kituku that the facts of the case as presented by Mogere were entirely true.

The two criminals were made to understand that the deal did not stop the ODPP from prosecuting them for any offence committed earlier or after the agreement.

They were forced to commit to being of good behaviour and to remain arrest-free during and after serving the sentence.