Murang’a man who escaped from custody jailed for one year
David Kung'u Ndung'u, the 21-year-old serial jail breaker who drank his way back to captivity. He was on October 5, 2021 sentenced to one year in prison for escaping from police custody.
A 21-year-old man, arrested after coming out of his hideout to celebrate the birth of his son, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to escaping from legal custody and was sentenced to one year imprisonment.
David Kung'u Ndung'u was arraigned before Kigumo Senior Principal Magistrate Shivai Agade and, true to his pride of siring a baby boy, pleaded guilty, saying he intends to shorten his absence from parental responsibilities.
"As a young father to a baby boy, I intend to plead guilty to all charges so that I don't waste my time with the case while in remand. I want to serve my sentence so that I can shorten the time I will be absent from my young family," he said.
Ndung'u was charged that he twice escaped from lawful custody while being held at Maragua Police Station in Murang'a County.
He had been charged with robbery with violence at the Kigumo courthouse but escaped from remand at the station on April 6.
Before that, on March 3, he had escaped from the same station while being held for the crime of robbery with violence.
He reappeared in Maragua town on September 28, hours after his wife had given birth to a boy.
Celebrating boy’s birth
After confirming the good news in his Gikindu village home, the 21-year-old suspected robber called two of his friends and went celebrating by drinking alcohol.
But he was arrested after locals tipped police off two drunken youth, one of whom they identified as the jailbreak suspect.
In court, Ndung'u faced with four charges — the robbery case that he was escaping from, two counts of escaping from legal custody and burglary into Almasi Villa Resort where he stole sound equipment worth Sh15,000.
"I'm guilty your honour for my son. I'm guilty for my wife. I want to be through this as fast as possible so that I can reunite with them," he said.
He was sentenced to one year imprisonment for the second escape, and will know his fate on the first jailbreak charge on October 19.
For the burglary case, he will be sentenced on October 13 while his robbery with violence case, for which he had pleaded not guilty, will commence on October 21.
Ndung'u had also escaped from the Shimo La Tewa juvenile wing in 2016.
Offensive weapons
The same court fined 20-year-old Steven Kamande Sh200,000 or serve six months in default after he pleaded guilty to the charges of possessing offensive weapons and bhang.
Kamande was arrested on Monday morning after police acting on a tipoff raided his rental house in Border Estate in the outskirts of Maragua town.
In the 4am operation led by Chief Inspector Cleophas Juma, officers recovered five bows and 60 arrows, five machetes, 10 clubs and 100 rolls of bhang that were allegedly to be used to arm and intoxicate a group of youths in readiness to disrupt a political function slated for next week in Maragua.
Murang’a South Police Commander Alexander Shikondi said all forms of violence will not be entertained and urged the youth to be wary of individuals seeking to enlist them into violence then abandon them once police arrest them.
“As a police officer who has experience in how these violence projects work, those enlisting you by giving you money, narcotics and alcohol to go and cause chaos will abandon you once you are arrested. You will face the police, the courts and the jails on your own. That politician will disown you the moment you are arrested,” he said.
