Delivering the ruling on Tuesday, May 11, high court judge Stella Mutuku ruled that the constables shot with the aim of killing the victims.
“They acted recklessly and shot at the aim of killing. There was no shooting from inside the vehicle. By using the firearms to stop the car, they used force and acted contrary to the law,” Justice Mutuku ruled.
Waiyaki was in the company of her nephew Benard Chege in a car at the park when the officers shot at them.
The deceased was the wife to city businessman George Kirubi and the case drew criticism on the police service over the handling of the situation.
During the court case, the judge heard the two officers fired several bullets at the car from their AK47 rifles, killing Janet Waiyaki and injuring Chege during the 10 am incident.
Questions were raised as to why the officers were patrolling in Parklands – an area which was not under their jurisdiction.
“The guard alerted the officers that there was a suspicious motor vehicle parked within the park. The officers went and found a Toyota Fielder KBX 515 H parked in the forested area with all tinted windows closed.
“They knocked on the tinted windows but there was no response and all of a sudden, the motor vehicle sped off towards the road,” read the statement in part.
It is at this point when the officers were prompted to shoot. After the car stalled a few meters away, the two occupants were removed and taken to the hospital where the woman died while being attended to.
The deceased had informed police and hospital attendants to contact her relatives before she passed away.
At the time, the then-Nairobi County Police Commander Joseph Ole Tito maintained that officers approached the car with an intention of knowing if there were occupants and their mission.
Tito stated that the officers did not want to take chances at a time when crime was rampant in the city.
Source: KENYAGIST.COM
