Fake cop sentenced to 40 years over Ksh.4M robbery, terrorising Kilifi residents

Victor Otieno was sentenced by Kilifi Law Courts Principal Magistrate Ivy D. Wasike after being convicted of four counts of robbery with violence and one count of impersonating a police officer.

According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the robberies were committed in Malindi and Kilifi towns between November 15, 2024, and March 26, 2025, with Otieno and an accomplice posing as officers conducting official police operations to gain access to residential homes.

“The pair would knock on residential doors, gain entry under the pretence of conducting police operations, then overpower occupants, hold them hostage at gunpoint and ransack their homes,” ODPP stated.

Among the stolen items were mobile phones, laptops, television sets, gold chains, rings and PlayStations valued at about Ksh.4 million.

During the hearing, the prosecution presented nine witnesses who testified about the attacks, some of which took place in broad daylight.

One victim told the court that Otieno pointed a gun at her daughter, while another recounted being threatened with death unless he cooperated with the attackers.

In her judgment, Magistrate Wasike found that several victims had positively identified Otieno during identification parades, dismissing his defence that he had been mistakenly implicated.

The court also rejected his claim that he was in Migori attending his grandmother's burial during the period in question, noting that he had not presented a witness, bus ticket or other evidence to support his alibi.

The account that he was accidentally shot in the leg at Kilifi Bridge on March 26, 2025, while dropping off a passenger was also dismissed. The court heard that police officers had laid an ambush following a reported robbery in Malindi, leading to his arrest.

The prosecution further told the court that Otieno's accomplice continued committing robberies in Likoni after Otieno's arrest. He was later traced to Mariakani, where a silver CZ pistol and another handgun were recovered, before he was shot dead after attempting to escape from Likoni Police Station.

In determining the sentence, the magistrate considered a pre-sentence report and observed that the robberies had been carried out in a particularly heinous manner, leaving victims traumatised. Some were reportedly reluctant to return to court to testify.

The court also noted that the police ambush triggered an exchange of gunfire along a busy highway, putting members of the public and officers at risk.

Otieno received 30 years for each of the four robbery with violence counts, with the sentences running concurrently. He was handed a further 10 years for impersonating a police officer, to run consecutively, bringing his total sentence to 40 years.

The court granted him 14 days to appeal against the conviction and sentence.

ODPP says in a move aimed at supporting those affected, the court directed probation and aftercare officers to facilitate access to professional psychosocial support for the victims and their families.

Otieno is also serving a separate 30-year prison sentence in a similar robbery with violence case before the Malindi Law Courts, following a plea bargain with the prosecution.