Student convicted of manslaughter in 2017 Moi Girls School fire that killed 10 girls

Trial judge Stella Mutuku ruled that the prosecution did not prove any malicious intent on the part of the girl who was 14 years old at the time of the incident which occurred on the night of 1 and 2nd September 2017.

"Where malice afterthought is not proved, but there is proof that the person under trial is the one who killed the victims, then the offence committed is not murder but manslaughter," the court ruled.

The judge, therefore, acquitted the girl of the offence of murder in all the 10 counts and instead ruled that the offence proved beyond a reasonable doubt is that of manslaughter.

The girl, who is now 18 years old, will be sentenced on January 4, 2022.

On September 13, 2017, the student was presented before Judge Luka Kimaru and was charged with the murder of her schoolmates. She denied all charges.

In the said fire incident, a Form 1 students' dormitory with a capacity of 388 capacity was razed down killing 8 students while 51 other students were injured. Two other students later died while receiving treatment in hospital raising the death toll to 10.