Post date: Sep 13, 2013 1:50:50 PM
A Kenyan court acquits British citizen Jermaine John Grant of robbery with violence over an incident in 2008, a charge that could have carried the death penalty. Grant, whom the Kenyan police suspect to have ties to the al Shabaab rebel group still faces a barrage of other charges including planned attacks in Kenya and Somalia.
NAIROBI, KENYA (SEPTEMBER 13, 2013) (REUTERS) - A Kenyan court on Friday (September 13) acquitted British citizen Jermaine John Grant of robbery with violence over an incident in 2008, a charge that could have carried the death penalty, but he faces another trial over a planned attacks in Kenya and Somalia.
Kenyan police suspect Grant, an east Londoner, has ties to the al Shabaab rebel group blamed by the authorities for a string of attacks in the port city of Mombasa, Nairobi and in the remote hinterlands bordering Somalia."The prosecution ought to have adduced evidence on his part to escape from lawful custody and no such evidence was forthcoming. I therefore find that the prosecution has failed to prove its case against the accused person on all the counts I accordingly acquit him under section 250," chief Nairobi magistrate, Kiarie Waweru Kiarie, told the court in a trial over robbery with violence charges.
Grant, who has served a two-and-half-year jail term for being in Kenya illegally, was escorted by prison officers from the court after the ruling. He still faces trial in Mombasa after being accused of possessing explosives.
The Briton and his co-accused are charged with planning an attack after being found with bomb-making material that included batteries, wire, ammonium nitrate, lead nitrate, acetone and hydrogen peroxide.
"He has a case in Mombasa which is due on the 23rd if I'm not wrong and we are also looking forward to the same verdict from the charge in Mombasa because we believe in the rule of law and we also believe that our magistrates and judiciary are capable to deliver justice," said Grant's attorney Chacha Mwita.
Security sources say Grant had design plans of hotels and restaurants frequented by Somali governmentofficials, Western expatriates and Ethiopians.
Kenyan police allege he worked with Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of a suicide bomber involved in the July 2005 attacks in London. She is wanted by Kenyan police on terror related charges but is still on the run.