The Moi Girls student who had been charged with murder in a case where she was accused of causing the death of ten students, who died in a 2017 tragic fire, has been found guilty of manslaughter.
Justice Stella Mutuku in her ruling said that the prosecution did not prove the element of malice aforethought required to sustain the charge of murder.
The judge however said that the prosecution proved that the accused killed the victims hence she has substituted the murder offence with manslaughter.
“It’s therefore, the finding of this court that the prosecution had failed to prove the element of malice aforethought; the court is not able to find the subject guilty of murder in respect to all the 10 counts. Instead, I find the offence of manslaughter proved beyond a reasonable doubt in all the 10 counts. I consequently find her guilty of an unlawful act of causing the death of the 10 victims all-inclusive,” the judge ruled.
The student whose name is withheld is alleged to have committed the offence on the night of September 1 and 2, 2017 at around 2:00 am while at Moi Girls School in Nairobi jointly with others not before the court.
At the time of the offence, the accused was 14 years old and in Form One.
In her defence, the student who is now 19 years old had denied having committed the offence and refuted claims that she had demonstrated a spell to her fellow students using a matchbox which is alleged she used to burn the dormitory.
She however admitted having a hand sanitiser at the time which she says all students were allowed to carry.
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