• Shah was convicted of robbery with violence and sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life sentence before the latest revision.
• He appealed against the decision twice before filing for an application of revision at the Kiambu High Court.
George Mwanga was driving along Ruaka-Gachie road, Kiambu County at around 9:30 am on October 4, 2015, when he was ambushed, assaulted and his car stolen.
The five men who had lain in waiting were armed with a pistol and managed to get away with Mwanga's Toyota Probox then valued at Sh750,000.
One of the men who was later identified as Mehtab Shah was arrested on the same day and charged with robbery with violence.
Shah was convicted and sentenced to death, a decision he was dissatisfied with, leading him to appeal at the High Court.
Unfortunately for him, after reviewing the case, the court decided to uphold the trial court's judgment.
It however ordered that Shah's file be sent back to the trial court for resentencing.
The man was not satisfied with the decision, prompting him to move to the Court of Appeal.
The court however dismissed his appeal and gave similar orders as the High Court; that Shah's file be sent back to the trial court for resentencing.
In its ruling, the court relied upon a 2017 landmark decision where the Supreme Court held that it was unconstitutional to issue a mandatory death sentence.
As orders would have it, the case was taken to the first court, but in a string of bad luck that had plagued Shah, the trial Magistrate ruled that she lacked jurisdiction to resentence.
She stated that the Supreme Court judgement applied only to sentences of murder, under Sections 203 and 204 of the Penal Code.
The code states that "203:Any person who of malice aforethought causes death of another person by an unlawful act or omission is guilty of murder and 204: Any person who is convicted of murder shall be sentenced to death."
A consistent Shah was not disheartened and in 2023, he filed for revision of the trial Magistrate's decision at the High Court at Kiambu.
His counsel argued that the magistrate was wrong and urged the court to correct the same.
Shah's star of luck started shining when Judge Peter Mulwa stated that his court had jurisdiction to hear and determine the convict's application.
The judge noted that sentencing should be done in accordance with the law, adding that the death sentence imposed on Shah was commuted to life imprisonment.
"The sentence imposed was the only mandatory sentence prescribed by the law," he said.
Further, the judge noted that the Supreme Court judgment that had been highlighted by the earlier courts changed the law that imposed mandatory sentences on all convicts.
"The courts have the discretion to impose a less severe mandatory sentence....This court has the discretion to interfere with the sentence imposed on the applicant (Shah)," he said.
After reviewing the case, Judge Mulwa also took note of the time Shah spent in custody.
The man was arrested on October 4, 2015, and sentenced on November 21, 2016.
He was in prison for some seven years and nine months.
In his ruling in August 2023, Judge Mulwa set aside the sentence imposed by the trial court back in 2016 and substituted it with 30 years in jail.
"In the circumstances therefore, I hereby set aside the sentence imposed by the trial court and affirmed by the High Court and the Court of Appeal (commuted to life imprisonment) and substitute the same with a prison term of 30 years," he ruled.
"The period to run from the time of the applicant's conviction on October 18, 2016."