A man sentenced to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor was on Wednesday set free by the High Court in Nakuru.
Justice Joel Ngugi ordered for the release of the 23-year-old man only identified as PK after he appealed his life sentence.
PK was sentenced to life in prison on October 10, 2013, after he was found guilty of defiling a nine-year-old girl, a crime that he committed on November 17, 2012, at Kiptangwany market in Gilgil.
Justice Ngugi in his ruling released the man saying that the court failed to consider his age before sentencing him to life.
Justice Ngugi said PK was still a minor when he committed the crime and it was wrong for him to be held in adult custody following his arrest.
The trial court failed to give PK legal representation or other assistance during the hearing of his case.
The judge further ruled that the arrest and detention of a minor should be in accordance with a child’s rights which the police, the prosecutor, trial magistrate and the prison department failed to observe.
“No consideration was given to the fact that the appellant was a minor when he was admitted to bail with the result that he was given prohibitive conditions which he could not meet. He, therefore, ended up in detention during the 14 months of the pendency of his trial,” ruled Justice Ngugi.