Questions after suspect goes missing twice upon release on bond
Ms Lucy Wanjiku, a teacher and an assault suspect who has been missing for a year since she was granted bail.
A criminal case in a Nakuru Magistrate Court has stalled for a year after the suspect, who was released on bail, went missing for the third time.
Questions have emerged about how Ms Lucy Wanjiku, an assault suspect who was considered a flight risk, managed to secure her freedom three times from the court.
Ms Wanjiku, a teacher by profession, was arrested on January 8, 2019, 10 days after she allegedly assaulted her neighbour, Ms Vilitracia Wambui, by biting off her finger at their home in Mawanga, Nakuru, before she fled.
She was produced in court on January 9 that year and charged with assault. She denied the charge and the court released her on Sh5,000 bail.
But she disappeared immediately and was not seen for one year, prompting the court to seize her bail and issue a warrant of arrest against her.
The following year, on January 9, 2020, she was arrested and produced before Principal Magistrate Bernard Mararo. She claimed to be unwell and was placed in remand
On July 20, 2020, the charge sheet was amended to say that she had caused grievous harm. She was made to plead afresh and denied the charge.
Senior Resident Magistrate Rose Ombata granted her a Sh100,000 bond with a surety of the same amount or an alternative cash bail of Sh50,000.
She could not raise the money and on July 14, 2020 she applied for the bond terms to be reviewed downwards.
In response, the magistrate ordered a pre-bail report from the probation department.
A probation report dated August 18, 2020 said officers had established that Ms Wanjiku trained as an Early Childhood Education Development teacher at the Nakuru Shamah Cornerstone Institute and worked as a volunteer teacher at Workers Primary School.
She separated from her husband, with whom she had a son, now aged 12.
The report also said the suspect did not understand the seriousness of the matter and took it lightly, only keen to feign innocence.
It claimed she was insincere and had a negative attitude.
The report said her safety could not be guaranteed as residents who were angered by her actions were baying for her blood
It also said Ms Wanjiku was a flight risk, citing the time she disappeared after being granted bond.
It recommended that the teacher be denied bond.
“In view of the above, it’s clear that there are high chances of the accused person jumping bail/bond terms considering her being a flight risk,” the report said.
On August 18, 2020, the court, upon considering the report, reviewed the bond downwards from Sh100,000 to Sh50,000 and cash bail Sh20,000 down from Sh50,000.
But since the fourth witness testified in court on January 20, 2021, the suspect has not turned up in court, prompting the court to adjourn the case at least six times.
Two arrest warrants issued by the court have proved fruitless, with the police unable to arrest the suspect.
