Moi University student Dickson Syengo Mutemi in court. He was handed eight years in jail for killing a colleague on March 21, 2016. [PHOTO/nation.co.ke]
A Moi University student has been jailed for eight years imprisonment for killing his colleague in a love triangle.
The court found 20-year-old Dickson Syengo Mutemi guilty for killing Stephen Mututho on March 21, last year at the Pioneer Estate hostels in Eldoret town.
Eldoret Principal Magistrate Charles Obulutsa found him guilty of stabling Mututho eight times in the chest and in the stomach after finding him in a room with his girlfriend.
The deceased was a fourth-year student taking a Bachelor of Hotel and Hospitality Management degree.
In mitigation, Mutemi prayed to the court not to hand him custodial sentence but put him on probation to help him proceed with his studies.
“Your honour it is now one year and three months since I was put in custody, as you sentence me, kindly, consider putting me on probation so that I can be able to realise my life dream,” he pleaded.
He also told the court that he has a one-year-old daughter that still needs parental care.
Responding to the mitigation, Judge Obulutsa said the maximum sentence for murder is a life sentence and so the court gave him a lenient jail term of 8 years.
“You are a live, but the other family has lost a son following your act, I know the prison department has proper mechanism in place to help you to continue pursuing your studies in hospitality industry which you were pursuing at Moi university Eldoret town campus,” ruled the magistrate.