A man sentenced to10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a girl has been set free by the High Court in Nakuru.
High Court Judge Joel Ngugi ordered for the release of John Barno after he appealed his 10 years in jail sentence.
Barno was jailed after he was found guilty on September 7, 2015 of defiling the girl, a crime that he committed on September 2, 2012, at Bondeni Estate.
The trial court sentenced him to serve 10 years in prison after it was established that there was evidence that a sexual offence was committed even though the prosecution did not prove the age of the complainant.
Barno who was working at a children's remand home in Nakuru moved to the Nakuru High Court to appeal the ruling claiming that the lower court made an error in convicting him.
Judge Ngugi in his ruling released Barno saying that the lower court failed to consider the age of the girl said to have been defiled.
Judge Ngugi said the prosecution during the case hearing had realized the mistake of not proving the age of the girl and applied to have its witnesses recalled but the trial court decline the application and made the ruling.
“The prosecution evidence was cogent. It placed the appellant (Barno) at the scene and his identity was not put into question. However, as far as fate would have it, the first misfortune was the manner in which the prosecution handled the case.
"They forgot to adduce evidence on the age of the victim,” ruled Judge Ngugi as quoted by standardmedia.co.ke.