Court frees attempted killer

  AN ENGAN man out on a K500 bail for attempted murder had his case struck out because the three months allowed to complete the police file in  the Committal court lapsed on Jan 19.

At the hearing last Thursday the court was told that last September, Steven Punangi, 40, of Irelya village in Wabag, Enga, and others, believed to be his relatives, allegedly assaulted officers from the sheriffs office from the National Court, who went to conduct an eviction exercise on a property at Gordon. 

The accused was alleged to be managing the property on behalf of its expatriate owner.

When the officers turned up, Punangi and his relatives acted aggressively towards them.

Punangi refused to allow the eviction to go ahead.

This led to a heated argument with the court officers. 

The incident turned nasty when the officers were attacked.

One officer was reportedly punched in the face and  another, named as Baka Bina, who laid the complaint with police, was severely beaten and almost lost his life from being struck in the head, allegedly with an iron bar. 

The sheriff’s office vehicle was also damaged in the attack, the court heard.

In discharging the information, magistrate Lawrence Kangwia said, “the court process allowed for the police to complete the file on the accused within three months, and as the file is not complete the information is struck out for want of police file.”

“The accused can be rearrested later and brought before the court if the file is completed,” he told the court.