Kwale,KENYA:A Kwale court on Thursday set free two foreigners a German and an Italian who had previously been charged with negligence which lead to the death of a British soldier sergeant John James Marley at the Diani Marine limited in April 2012.
Chief magistrate Doreen Mulekyo ordered the two foreigners Mr Thomas Sollacher the CEO and owner of Diani Marine Limited and Mr Edoardo Vasta a former diving instructor at the Diani Marine Divers Village released and all securities they had deposited refunded to them.
The duo were facing the charges of causing death by neglecting a bedside lamp leaving it with a faulty switch at the premises which lead to the death of the Soldier by electrocution.
Earlier the court had heard that the prosecutor was attending a seminar in Nairobi and was not aware of the hearing date.
Their lawyer Andrew Wandabwa had pointed fingers at the prosecutor accusing him of handling the case so recklessly , pleading with the court to terminate the case since there was no willingness from the prosecution side.
“We are not aware of any other directive of the court sitting, there should be no other adjournment. The counsel has not informed us of the difficulty in this matter. The Prosecution should not be allowed to castigate this matter,” he said.
Mr Vasta’s lawyer- Mr Michael Oloo said there was no incriminating evidence against his client from the witnesses that had appeared in the court arguing that continuing with the case was denting his client’s image.
“We are rather shocked by the turn of events and the court records should bail us out, we have diligently attended court and this serious charge of purported death of some person has been hanging on my client,” he said.
Mr Oloo complained that his client was not being denied fair hearing under Article 50 as entitled in aticle 50 of the Kenyan constitution.
“Every person is entitled to a fair hearing from the beginning to the end without unreasonable delay,” he quoted.
