JUDGMENT
1.The appellant, NTN, was charged with the offence of incest contrary to Section 20(1) of the Sexual Offences Act. The particulars of the charge were that on diverse dates between January 2009 and November 2011, in [Particulars Withheld] area in Tana River District within Tana River County, he caused his penis to penetrate the vagina of JN a female person who was to his knowledge his daughter. On arraignment before the Magistrate’s Court at Garsen on 7th November 2012, the appellant pleaded guilty to the offence and was convicted. In mitigation, he stated that he had eight children at home who depended on him. He was sentenced to a prison term of 30 years.
2.Aggrieved, the appellant appealed against the conviction and sentence before the High Court where his main complaints were that the trial magistrate did not consider that he (the appellant) remained silent during plea taking; that the trial magistrate did not inquire from prosecution whether the appellant committed the offe…