Two traders who allegedly broke into a building and stole property belonging to the son of former Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss George Kinoti have been charged in court.
The two, Luis Borura Nyawira Otieno and Stephen Wafula Okoni denied the charges when they were arraigned before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Robinson Ondiek, on Thursday.
They were charged that on April 1, 2024 along Biashara street within Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) they committed the offense jointly with others not before court.
According to the charge sheet they broke and entered into Hison Plaza, second floor shop number One known as Quebec gaming lounge and stole play stations, play station pads and gaming disks all valued Sh1,260,000 the property of Anthony Mwendwa Kinoti.
Lawyer Danstan Omari complained in court that the accused were wearing masks while taking plea.
"Your honour the suspects are wearing masks as they take plea without prescription from the doctor,” said Omari.
He said according to the judiciary guidelines suspects should take plea in a manner that they can be clearly seen and known.
"If the trend of suspects taking plea while covering their faced is allowed, it will erode the judicial system of the court," said Omari.
The suspects told the magistrate that they were suffering from pneumonia and flu which they claimed that they acquired while in police custody.
Ondiek asked the duo to present medical records to prove that indeed they had contracted the infections.
They did not have the records and they were ordered to remove the masks as the charges were read to them.
The suspects lawyer Eunice Katile asked the court to grant them favorable bail terms saying they were not a flight risk and had young families which they were taking care of.
Katile asked the court to order police to release the suspects personal belongings like wallets containing identification cards and mobile phones that they took from them during their arrest on Wednesday.
The prosecution side objected to their release on a cash bail, claiming that they have a similar matter in court.
They will be presented in court again on Friday for ruling on the bail application.
