- While delivering his ruling, the magistrate noted that the prosecution claim that he was in danger if released because other officers wanted revenge was not sufficient to have the accused detained.
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A 19-year-old student alleged to have beaten up a police officer along Kamiti Road and robbed him of a communication gadget has been released on Sh700,000.
Milimani principal magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi released Ian Njoroge on bail after dismissing the application by the prosecution that it was for his own safety.
While delivering his ruling, the magistrate noted that the prosecution's claim that he was in danger if released because other officers wanted revenge was not sufficient to have the accused detained.
Ekhubi has also ruled that the robbery With Violence charge against Njoroge is unconstitutional since section 96 (2) of the Penal Code where the said offence was anchored was declared unconstitutional by the High Court.
"The allegations that Ian Njoroge should not be released on bail and or bond because he is a flight risk is plausible since it is not supported by any evidence", the magistrate said.
The magistrate released him on a bond of Sh700,000.
On Wednesday, the Director of Public Prosecutions had asked the court to deny bail saying he faced serious allegations.
In an affidavit filed in court by prosecution counsel James Gachoka, said that Article 49, 1, H allows for the limitation of the right to bail meaning that the right to bail is not absolute.
Gachoka told Milimani principal magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi that denying Ian Njoroge bail is for the best interest of the security of the accused person.
"An offence involving the violation of the rights of a police officer is an offence to the state, we argue that the offence before you is of utmost seriousness, while bail is a constitutional right, the law demands that where there are compelling reasons then bail must be denied" Gachoka argued.
He added that the court has a duty to send a warning to the people who might be planning to attack a police officer that they cannot go unpunished.
Gachoka said the fact that he did not present himself to the station shows that he was a flight risk.
"We ask the court to take notice of the notorious video circulating through social media fleeing from the scene of the crime, we are convinced that if the court releases him on bail, he will flee from the court and he will never come back," he added.
Njoroge's lawyer Duncan Okatch, however, urged the court to release Njoroge on bail saying the prosecution itself other than the investigating officer is perpetrating the denial of bail.
Okatch added that the prosecution has a habit of yelling louder than the victims, if you look at the reasons that have been given there's no sufficient reason for denial of bail.
"The accused person is charged with an offence that a three-judge bench of the High Court declared unconstitutional," the defence lawyer said.
The court was persuaded to grant the accused person bail.