Why DPP asked the court to deny 19-year-old Ian Njoroge bail

The Director of Public Prosecutions has asked a Nairobi court to deny bail to a 19-year-old student alleged to have beaten up a police officer and robbed him of a communication gadget.

In an affidavit filed in court by prosecution counsel James Gachoka, said that Article 49, 1, H allows for the limitation of the right to bail meaning that the right to bail is not absolute.

Gachoka told Milimani principal magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi that denying Ian Njoroge bail is for the best interest of the security of the accused person.

“An offence involving the violation of the rights of a police officer is an offence to the state, we argue that the offence before you is of utmost seriousness, while bail is a constitutional right, the law demands that where there are compelling reasons then bail must be denied” Gachoka argued.

He added that the court has a duty to send a warning to the people who might be planning to attack a police officer that they cannot go unpunished.

Gachoka said the fact that he did not present himself to the station shows that he was a flight risk.

“We ask the court to take notice of the notorious video circulating through the social media fleeing from the scene of the crime, we are convinced that if the court releases him on bail, he will flee from the court and he will never come back,” he added.

The prosecutor also told the court that if you watched the video you would notice that members of the public were in pursuit of the accused person hence there was hostility towards the accused person so the court should deny him bail to protect him from anybody who might feel aggrieved.

Njoroge’s lawyer Duncan Okatch, however, urged the court to release Njoroge on bail saying the prosecution itself other than the investigating officer is perpetrating the denial of bail.

Okatch added that the prosecution has a habit of yelling louder than the victims, if you look at the reasons that have been given there’s no sufficient reason for denial of bail.

“The accused person is charged with an offence that a three-judge bench of the High Court declared unconstitutional,” the defence lawyer said. 

The court was persuaded to grant the accused person bail. Magistrate Ekhubi has requested a prebail report before granting bail.

Njoroge will be remanded at the Industrial area prison until Friday.