Kwale plumber jailed 25 years for revenge killing of businessman

avdeltanews@gmail.com 

A plumber from Kwale County has been jailed for 25 years for killing a businessman in what the court heard was a revenge attack linked to a long-running personal grudge.

High Court Judge Francis Andayi found Fikirini Juma Hassan, alias County Mbili, guilty of murdering Ali Noor on the night of July 28, 2019, at Denyenye village Matuga Sub-county.

According to court records, Noor and his friend were returning home from a music event at Bidi Badu Club in Diani when a group of men ambushed them. 

They pelted the duo with stones, causing their motorcycle to crash. Noor’s friend escaped into nearby bushes, but Noor was cornered and slashed with pangas.

“The attack was deliberate and driven by revenge, not robbery,” Justice Andayi said, noting that the assailants took nothing from the victims.

Principal Prosecution Counsel Vallerie Ongeti told the court that Fikirini and his accomplices, two of whom are still at large, had planned the assault after a dispute with the victim.

 Eyewitness evidence placed the accused at the scene.

The judge said the prosecution presented consistent and credible evidence linking Fikirini to the crime, describing the act as “sheer brutality that robbed a family of its breadwinner.”

Fikirini was convicted of murder under Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code and handed a 25-year prison term.

The conviction adds to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions’ growing list of successful prosecutions in violent crime cases across the Coast region.