Col Kaye gets 10-year jail term for murder
Lt Col John Kaye in the dock at the General Court Martial in Makindye yesterday. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
Prosecution stated that Lt Col Kaye asked Kabuye to put off his lights and when the latter did not, he dragged him out of his car, pulled out his pistol and shot him at close range in the neck.
Kampala- The General Court Martial has sentenced Lt Col John Kaye to 10 years imprisonment for murdering a 28-year-old man at his home in Nalumunye, Wakiso District, in 2013.
The General Court Martial in Makindye found that Lt Col Kaye shot dead Steven Kabuye following a scuffle at his home.
Prosecution stated that Lt Col Kaye asked Kabuye to put off his lights and when the latter did not, he dragged him out of his car, pulled out his pistol and shot him at close range in the neck.
While reading the sentence to the convict, the chairman of the court martial, Brig Gen Levi Karuhanga, considered the submissions of both prosecution and defence.
“I have considered the prosecution’s submissions that the convict was a first time offender with no criminal record and that he should be given a lighter punishment since there was a life lost that cannot be replaced,” Brig Gen Karuhanga ruled.
He added that the offence would have attracted 35 years imprisonment.
Brig Gen Karuhanga had earlier ruled that prosecution had brought enough evidence that Lt Col Kaye had murdered Kabuye.
Prosecution witness Sarah Nakato, who was with the deceased by the time he was killed, told court that she saw Kabuye being shot and later attended the burial in Mityana.
The court also ruled out self-defence, picking from doctors’ evidence of a three-inch wound found on the deceased’s neck, and some signs of resistance.
The convict had earlier pleaded innocent, claiming he thought the deceased was a thief who attacked his house.
Col Kaye was also blamed for physically attacking an unarmed person with immense force despite the fact that he had an escort.
