Court lacks powers to discern role of 'evil spirits', judge rules

The High Court has thrown out a defence by a murder convict that he killed because he was “possessed with bouts of evil spirits” which made him mentally unstable.

Lady Justice Sophie Chebet Chirchir of Kakamega dismissed the defence, which was key among the grounds Mohamed Ibrahim presented seeking to be handed a non-custodial sentence after being found guilty of murder, terming it vague.

“This court cannot determine the role of “evil spirits” in Ibrahim’s actions. It would be a travesty of justice if every offender was allowed to explain away his or her crime by blaming some mysterious spirits, forces, the devil, gods or God,” she said.

“We have no way of ascertaining such (evil spirit) forces as they are beyond the human realm. They are beyond our comprehension, control and management, hence man cannot legislate on them or about them. In short, mental illness has not been proven, and the accused cannot benefit from this, as a mitigating factor.”

The judge, who handed Ibrahim a 12-year sentence, said could also not stand as the convict passed through a psychiatrist who determined he was mentally fit to stand the capital murder trial.

She cited the report by the psychiatrist who examined him on December 14, 2020, before plea- taking characterising Ibrahim as “a person of good memory who could explain what exactly led to his arrest.”

He further ruled out a history of chronic or mental illness in Ibrahim, who was found guilty of murdering a five-year-old by repeatedly stabbing him with a sharp object in early December 2020.

When put on the defence, the convict argued that were it not for the evil spirit he could not have executed the grotesque criminal act on the minor who was his nephew.

The part-time painter particularly pointed out that he dropped out of school because of the mysterious spiritual attacks characterised by “episodes of violent behaviour” which were also common with his brother.

He nonetheless said that he was remorseful after the murder and should be granted an out-of-jail sentence to allow him to continue with medication to cure the alleged mysterious disease.

“Save for the unexplained violent outbursts, Ibrahim is otherwise a humble and well-mannered person,” reads a defence statement by his lawyer, urging the court to consider the probation report that among other things recommended a non-custodial sentence for him.

The report further indicated that the community victim’s family, including his mother, had forgiven him and were ready to welcome him back.

The State rebutted the defence as pedestrian since the life and that of a defenceless minor had been lost.

It argued that there was no reason why such a child could be stabbed several times by a 23-year-old before whom he was “utterly defenceless and helpless”.

“As for the alleged episodes of violence that Ibrahim suffers, there is no evidence that the family took any action to deal with the problem until the loss of life had occurred. That failure to deal with the problem is a sign that the family is unable to manage his alleged medical condition, for his sake and that of the society, he should be kept away in jail,” said prosecutor Maureen Odumba.

She also asked the judge to disregard the probation report as it was not binding according to the law.