A driver accused of causing the death of a retired senior City Hall official along the Southern Bypass has been jailed for nine months with an alternative fine of Sh50,000.
This was after the accused person, John Njuguna Ngugi, pleaded guilty to the charges of causing death by careless driving.
The accident claimed the life of George Muchiri Njenga on October 12 this year at around 1400 hours along the Southern ByPass near Kibera.
“Yes, I admit the offence, my car lost control, veered off from my lane and caused the accident, I plead with the court to forgive me,” he told Kibera senior principal magistrate Charles Mwaniki.
The prosecution told the court that the accident involved a motor vehicle and a pickup.
“The police officers who were on traffic patrol upon arrival found the driver of motor vehicle John Njuguna Ngugi who was driving to Kikuyu direction towards Mombasa road with an empty trailer that had veered off the road to the right, lost control and jumped over the road kerb separating the median section of the dual carriage from Mombasa road heading towards Kikuyu direction, it had hit pick up and caused the death of George Muchiri Njenga,” the court heard.
The prosecution further told the court that the body of the deceased was taken to the morgue and a postmortem was later done.
The magistrate directed that the accused person pay a fine of Sh50,000, or serve a jail term of nine months.
“The court has noted that the accused person has pleaded guilty to the charges and has also saved the Judiciary time in handling his case. I have considered his mitigation and is hereby sentenced to nine months in jail or serve a jail term of nine months, he can appeal with 14 days if he wishes to do so,” Mwaniki said.