Former Laikipia North MP Mathew Lempurkel will spend the next one year in jail for slapping his colleague Sarah Korere.
The former ODM la maker was found guilty of assault, causing actual bodily harm, contrary to Section 251 of the Penal Code. The lawmaker was sentenced to one year in jail with no option of a fine.
Senior Principal Magistrate, Hellen Onkwani, delivered the judgment and appeared lenient as he considered that Lempurkel was a first-time offender.
“I note from the mitigation record that the accused is a leader who needs to be a good example to others so I proceed to sentence the accused person serve one-year imprisonment,” Justice Onkwani ruled.
Justice Onkwaniobserved that there had been a rise in cases of assault in the country and stressed that brutality against women must be wiped out in society.
The former MP was convicted after the court ruled that the Prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt the assault charges against him.
In addition, the court ruled Lempurkel had a right to appeal within 14 days.
Through his lawyer James Orengo, Lempurkel claimed that a CCTV footage did not capture the occurrence of the fateful day.
Howver, the magistrate dismissed the allegation by the defense saying that it is on record that the boardroom where the offense was committed had no CCTV.
“The CCTV was at the corridor but the offense was committed in the boardroom and not in the corridor and such the said CCTV would have been immaterial consideration of this case,” Onkwani said.
Lempurkel was accused of Ms Sarah on the left side of her abdomen on November 21, 2016.
He was arrested outside Parliament buildings a day later and taken to the Kileleshwa Police Station.
He would later be released on a Ksh100,000 cash bail or a bond of Ksh200,000 with a surety of a similar amount as the matter proceeded to full hearing.
