A man found in possession of a leopard skin was on Thursday fined Sh80,000 by a Nakuru court or face 12 months jail term.
James Kariuki was fined a sum of Sh40, 000 on each counts of being in possession of the skin and trading it without a valid license from Kenya Wildlife services.
Senior Resident Magistrate Judicaster Nthuku ruled that the prosecution has proven the charge beyond reasonable doubt.
The investigating officer said officers received a tip off from a member of the public and they posed as customers, called Kariuki pretending to buy the skin and arrange for meeting.
The officer in his testimony said that he came ridding the motorbike alone, alight and he started to look into the sack, saw a skin and he alerted his colleagues who were few meters away and arrested him.
In his defense, he said that he is a bodaboda operator within Nakuru town and a client left the luggage without his knowledge, he admitted to the court that the sack carrying the skin was found in his possession.
“I looked at the proceeding and the testimonies of the officer who examined the skin and if the said luggage belonged to a customer it should have been raised during the cross examination,” Nthuku said.
An expert from the government chemist testified before court that the skin that was tasked for identification and analysis was of a leopard.
He allegedly committed the crime on May 23, 2012 within Nakuru township
Nthuku said that that Kariuki had no license to conduct such business and she fined her Sh80,000 on both accounts or face 12 months imprisonment.