18-year-old girl jailed 50 years for death of 10 classmates in fire outbreak

The convict who is now a former student of Moi Girls High School Nairobi will spend the jail term concurrently.

According to Tuko.co.ke, a High Court Judge Stella Mutuku sentenced the convict simply identified as T.W.G. on Thursday, February 24, 2022.

The young lady had initially been charged with ten counts of murder but the court found her not guilty of murder in December 2021 and the charges were reduced to manslaughter.

“It is, therefore, the finding of this court that the prosecution having failed to prove the element of malice aforethought in respect of this case, this court is not able to find the subject guilty of the offence of murder,” the judge said las year as quoted by Tuko.co.ke.

However, after convicting her of manslaughter, the judge refused pleas to give her a non-custodial sentence. According to her, no amount of punishment would perfectly serve for the lasting impact of losing 10 lives, so a custodial sentence was nonnegotiable.

She was quick to add that the jail term would be backdated to December 21, 2021, when the court found her guilty of the charges.

The convict’s prosecution follows accusations that she had planned the tragic fire that caused the death of 10 Form One girls who were her classmates. It was established that she did not cause the fire to kill her colleagues but they ended up dying while she survived.

According to the prosecution, on the night of September 1 and 2, 2017, the student and her friends prayed and asked for God’s forgiveness for the arson before she proceeded to carry it through.

18-year-old girl jailed 50 years for death of 10 classmates in fire outbreak

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Recommended articles