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Free in months, the aristocrat who shot black poacher dead
Kiran Randhawa14.05.09
An aristocrat convicted of killing a black poacher on his Kenyan estate was today sentenced to eight months in prison.
Thomas Cholmondeley, the heir to one of the country's most famous white land-owning families, has spent three years in jail while awaiting trial over the death of Robert Njoya.
The old Etonian was last week found guilty of the stonemason's manslaughter in a case that has raised racial tension in the east African country.
At the High Court in Nairobi, Justice Muga Apondi said he was imposing a “light” sentence given that Cholmondeley, a descendant of one of Kenya's first British settlers, had been imprisoned since the death and had tried to help Mr Njoya with first aid and transport to hospital.
He said: “I do believe deeply that the process has humbled the accused person. In view of the total circumstances, I hereby wish to impose a light sentence on the accused.”
But he also told the court he had not taken into account Cholmondeley's offer to pay compensation to the dead man's family. “There should not be one law for the rich and another for the poor,” he said.
Cholmondeley shot Mr Njoya, 37, after spotting him on his family's 56,000-acre estate near Lake Naivasha in Kenya's Rift Valley.
It is the second time he has been accused of killing a black man. In 2005 he admitted shooting a wildlife ranger but the case was dropped owing to insufficient evidence.
After the sentence was read out today, people began protesting in court and waving placards, one of which read: “The Butcher of Naivasha”.
Cholmondeley, the great grandson of Lord Delamere, the founder of a set of white Kenyan playboys whose escapades were dramatised in the book and film White Mischief, was arrested over Mr Njoya's death on 10 May 2006, along with a white Kenyan rally driver, Carl Tundo. Though Cholmondeley tried to assist Mr Njoya, he died soon after reaching hospital. At the time, police said he had admitted the shooting had claimed it was an accident.
But in his court testimony last year Cholmondeley denied shooting Mr Njoya and sought to implicate Mr Tundo in the killing. He said that they had stumbled across a group of poachers while seeking a suitable location for the rally driver to build a new house.
Cholmondeley admitted shooting three of the poachers' dogs with his Winchester rifle but suggested that Mr Tundo may have fired the fatal shot with his pistol. He said he had initially covered up for him as Mr Tundo was “upset and tearful” after their arrest.
Reader views (7)
Who are any of us to comment,living in the UK?Our justice system is a complete joke.Teenage killers get less than this man.
We seem to forget a lot of white farmers actually got murdered whilst being ousted from their land.I think that smacks of racism personally.
- Steve, London
Why bring race into it. A crime was committed and unfortunately someone lost their life. If he had not been stealing then it would not have happenened.
- Anon, uk
"It is the second time he has been accused of killing a black man". Is there a separate charge for the colour of the victim's skin ? does it incur a stiffer or more lenient sentence than dispatching a chinaman ? Is the implication that he makes a habit of only killing blacks ? Is landed gentry shoots peasant any less evocative ? From what I read of Kenya lots of thieves murder their victims and one would be wise to take precautions. Was the poacher armed - surely the most relevant piece of information studiously ignored by the reporter who appears to interested in playing the class and race cards.
- Squiz, Islington
Justice? About the same as justice in the UK - when Lords and MP's can commit misfeasance in public office and get away scot free.
- Reuben Camara, Morecambe/Lancaster
Dom - I don't think your blinkered view of "black hard done to by white again" is quite right.
I'm sure there were more mitigating circumstances in this case, which warranted a lesser sentence. I.e., a poacher on his land, Cholmondeley protecting his stock. Add into equation the fact that Cholmondeley had shown some form of remorse in administering first aid to the poacher.
- Jock, London
Yes, the Judge Justice Muga Apondi is obviously racist.
What does colour have to do with the case?
- Gregg, London
If the roles were reversed in this case, ie: a white man was killed by a black man, the sentence would be a lot longer than 8 months. So wrong.
- Dom, London
