NYAHURURU, Kenya, February 9- A criminal case involving Olympic marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru in which he is alleged to have threatened to kill his wife and illegal possession of a firearm failed to start on Wednesday after it was reported that he was unwell.
His lawyer Wahome Ndegwa told the court that the athlete was under instructions from his personal doctor to have a bed rest and hence it would not have been able for him to appear in for the hearing of the case.
The lawyer told Senior Resident magistrate Alice Mong’are that his client sustained serious injuries in a road accident that occurred on January 21 along the Nyahururu-Nakuru road and therefore he was not in a position to have the matter heard at this time.
The accident occurred at around 5pm a few kilometers from Bahati township as the athlete was on his way to his Nyahururu home.
“Your honour, it is in the public domain that my client was recently involved in a road accident and he is still undergoing treatment at a Nairobi hospital under the supervision of his doctor who has advised him to have a rest until advised otherwise”, he told the court.
However, the prosecution led by Chief Inspector John Rutto objected to the application to adjourn the case noting that five prosecution witnesses among them a ballistic expert were already in court and ready to testify.
“This is a very serious cases of high magnitude and we have all the five witness in court and so it we cannot postpone the hearing”, he said adding that “It is our wish that this matter is concluded in the shortest time possible”.
In her ruling, the magistrate ordered the advocate to produce medical documents as proof that it was true that his client was under medical supervision and caution him against derailing the proceedings.
He ordered that the matter be heard on February 23 saying the court will not give any other adjournment or else it issues a warrant of arrest for the suspect.
Wanjiru is facing four counts of assault, a case he denied when he appeared before the court and was released on Sh300,000 bond with a surety of similar amount.
He is charged that on December 29 last year at Nyahururu’s Muthaiga Estate without lawful excuse uttered threats to kill his wife Terezah Njeri Muturi and night watchman William Maside Muhunyi.
He was also charged that on that particular night he assaulted the watchman thereby causing him serious body harm.
The athlete who was represented by a Nyahururu based lawyer Wahome Ndegwa also denied being in possession of an AK-47 riffle with serial number 02839 without a firearm certificate.
As a result, his wife Trizah Njeri has also expressed her intention to file a divorce but is yet to do so.