The wife of UK-based preacher Gilbert Deya has bowed out of an appeal she lodged against her conviction for baby theft four years ago.
Mary Deya on Wednesday opted to complete her jail term at the Lang’ata Women’s Prison in Nairobi.
Through lawyer John Swaka, Deya, of the miracle babies infamy, said “upon contemplation and on second thought”, she had chosen to drop her case, which was set to be heard at the Court of Appeal.
FOUND GUILTY
She bowed out at the eleventh hour after the court’s three-judge bench warned that the three-year sentence she had been handed may be enhanced or quashed depending on the outcome of the trial.
Deya lost the first appeal in 2014 at the High Court before Justice Mbogholi Msagha after she challenged the jail term handed by former magistrate Grace Nzioka.
The magistrate found her guilty of stealing a baby on September 10, 2005 at the Kenyatta National Hospital, and giving false information to Dr James Kiarie that she had given birth to the child in question.
MONTHS TO GO
The judge committed her to serve the sentence for a second time after upholding the magistrate’s conviction.
Deya then moved to the appellate court, where her case was placed before the bench led by judge GBM Kariuki.
Prosecutor Moses O’mirera did not object to Deya’s appeal withdrawal.
She will complete her term in three months.
-nation.co.ke
