JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
This appellant, an employee of the Kenya Co-operative Creameries, was charged in the Resident Magistrate’s Court at Kitale with four counts of stealing, in each case a single milk can said to be worth Kshs 750, belonging to four separate creameries, contrary to section 275 of the Penal Code. He was also charged, in the alternative with dishonestly handling the four milk cans, knowing or having reason to believe them to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained, contrary to section 322(2) of the Penal Code. After a long and careful trial he was acquitted of the four counts of stealing but convicted on the alternative count and sentenced to the mandatory minimum sentence of seven years imprisonment, to be followed by five years police supervision. He appealed to the High Court, but his appeal was summarily rejected.
The facts present no difficulty. The cans were stolen from the KCC’s depot on May 31, 1980 and were found at the appellant’s house six days later. This rec…