A Machakos court has slapped a 25-year-old man with a three-year jail term without the option of a fine for causing another grievous harm.
John Nzioka was convicted after he pleaded guilty for attacking and severely injuring Jackson Mulinge at Kithangathini market, Masii Location in Mwala Sub-County on the night of May 18, 2015.
A probation report presented in the court before Chief Magistrate Lucy Mbugua showed that the accused and his victim, both allegedly drunk then, disagreed due to a yet to be known cause and engaged in a struggle which resulted in the complainant sustaining severe injuries on the head plus a fractured jaw.
According to the report, the accused pushed the complainant against a wall whereby he hit his head hard and lost consciousness.
Nzioka, however, asserted that he was so drunk at that time that he could not recall exactly what happened, adding that the police found him in a ditch where he had blacked out.
The report further revealed that Mulinge’s mother rushed him to Machakos Level Five Hospital where he was immediately referred to Kenyatta National Hospital but preferred to take him to Nairobi West Hospital to avoid the long queue at the national hospital.
The mother also told the probation officer that his son was first admitted at the hospital’s ICU before he could stabilise to be operated on.
During admission, the doctors there were not certain if Mulinge would survive but he responded well to treatment, the mother disclosed.
The report said that the accused, a class five dropout, working as a watchman for a certain pub at the market, surprised area residents when he harmed his fellow villager since he was known to be a law-abiding citizen.
Jackson Mulinge, 34, was admitted at Nairobi West Hospital from May 18 to June 5 where he received extensive treatment but he still attends reexamination clinics to have his recovery monitored.
The report said that the Monalisa Montezuma Funeral Home, Nairobi driver sustained serious head trauma which the doctors fear might impair his functioning as well as productivity.
The complainant, the report stated, has been experiencing recurrent memory lapses and complains of sensitivity to light and double vision besides a still healing jaw.
According to the propation report, Mulinge’s hospital bills have gone as far as Sh1.7 million forcing his family to borrow money to cover the bills. The family is now organising fundraisers both in Nairobi and his rural home to offset the bills.
The magistrate, while passing the sentence, said the seriousness of harm Nzioka did to his victim prompted her to deny the accused a non-custodial sentence.
He was given 14 days to appeal.