- Gatuso claims police took away his mobile phones; a Samsung Galaxy 103 and an iPhone.
- He said his wallet which was also seized, had two ATM cards, $650, ID and NHIF card.
Image: FILE
Former Gor Mahia and Harambee Stars player Collins Okoth alias Gatuso has picked a fight with detectives who arrested him in May in a murder probe over his mobile phones and cash allegedly seized from his wallet.
Gatuso was arrested on May 10 over the murder of a three-year-old girl in Lucky Summer estate in Nairobi.
He claims police took away his mobile phones; a Samsung Galaxy 103 and an iPhone. He said his wallet which was also seized, had two ATM cards, $650, ID and NHIF card.
Through his lawyer Geoffrey Omenke, Gatuso told Justice Alexander Muteti that the detectives failed to return the items seized despite completion of their investigations.
Omenke said the items ought to be given back to the suspect because none of them has been listed as an exhibit.
But investigating officer Gilbert Rotich told the court that Gatuso's wallet only had two ID cards, an NHIF card and the ATM cards.
"The wallet was returned to him and only the ID cards were retained as exhibits," Rotich said.
However, Gatuso who was present in court virtually from the Nairobi Remand Prison, told the judge he had not received the items including his wallet from the investigators.
His lawyer Omenke, told the judge that the DCI officer was lying because he had claimed that those were the items as recorded in the inventory.
Omenke said the inventory was not signed by the suspect neither was it signed by the caretaker of the apartment from which Gatuso was arrested.
"The officer is claiming about a signed inventory and the same is unknown to us. Both the caretaker and the suspect who are crucial people of interest did not sign it," Omenke said.
Rotich said he had been accompanied by fellow detectives Christopher Samoei and Abdullahi Hassan on the mission to arrest Gatuso, and that all of them signed the inventory.
Omenke had also claimed that the detectives were calling Gatuso's family members, especially his sister and harassing her.
Prosecution counsel Sarah Ogweno from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions told the court the Samsung phone can be released to the suspect because it was not listed as an exhibit.
But Rotich argued that he still needed to have the phone for some forensic analysis.
In his ruling, Justice Muteti directed the phone be given back to Gatuso or his lawyers.
As for the disputed items including the iPhone and the $650, the court directed the suspect to make a formal complaint with the Independent Policing Oversight Authority.
"Ipoa shall take his statement and investigate the matter and forward their recommendations to the DPP for appropriate action," the judge said.
Gatuso and his co-accused Sylvia Aoko were in court to take plea to murder charges in relation to the death of a girl in Lucky Summer, Nairobi.
The plea-taking was however deferred to September 11 as the report on their mental assessment had not been filed in court.
The prosecution confirmed that the suspects had undergone medical assessment and that the reports were ready.
The judge directed that the reports be filed in court before the duo pleads to murder charges next week.