A robbery and rape convict who was jailed for life has lost his bid to quash the sentence after the High Court dismissed his appeal.
Luka Stanley Andove will serve life imprisonment after Justice Diana Kavedza of the High Court in Kibera upheld his conviction and death sentence.
Andove was convicted of three counts of robbery with violence and another three counts of rape. The state had submitted that Andove often posed as an employment agent to rob and rape multiple women.
He had challenged the totality of the prosecution’s evidence and complained that the trial court failed to consider his defence or his mitigation during sentencing.
He gave an unsworn testimony denying all charges, claiming that on two of the relevant dates he was at his rural home and that he knew one complainant from previous interactions as a boda boda operator.
The appellant urged the court to quash his conviction and set aside the sentence imposed.
But the prosecution detailed four separate attacks between February and August 2024, where Andove orchestrated the attacks by targeting vulnerable women with the promise of offering domestic employment in the Lenana area.
He lured the victims along forest paths and once isolated, he turned on the women, brandishing weapons such as knives and pangas, strangling them and demanding their mobile phones and cash before raping them.
“While walking through a forest route, the appellant produced a knife and threatened to call others to rape and kill her. He strangled her, snatched her phone and raped her. She reported the matter the following day at Mutuini police station," court records show.
That victim was treated at Coptic Hospital and she later identified the appellant at an identification parade.
One woman fought him off, leading to another count of attempted rape.
All complainants positively identified Andove at police parades and medical examinations confirmed severe trauma and physical injuries.
The prosecution said original sentence was entirely justified, given the predatory nature of the crimes.
Justice Kavedza upheld the death penalty for the robbery charges and life imprisonment for the sexual offences, finding that the evidence against Andove was overwhelming.
“The appellant was repeatedly armed with a knife, which he produced and used to threaten the victims. In one case, he additionally brandished a panga and rope. These weapons were deployed both to facilitate the sexual assaults and to effect the theft of the mobile phones,” the court noted.
The court rejected the appellant’s alibi and denial, highlighting the consistent testimony of the victims and the corroborating medical findings.
Addressing the sentence, the judge acknowledged that the trial court had considered the pre-sentence report, the appellant’s mitigation and his status as a first offender.
However, the aggravating circumstances—the use of violence and the repeated targeting of vulnerable women—outweighed any leniency.
“The appellant employed dangerous weapons, used and threatened personal violence, including strangulation and beatings and stole mobile phones and money in the course of these attacks,” the judge ruled.
“The conviction on the three counts of robbery with violence was safe and is upheld.”
The court dismissed the appeal saying the sentences imposed were lawful, proportionate and commensurate with the seriousness of the offences.
“Accordingly, I find no basis upon which to interfere with either the conviction or sentence," Justice Kavedza ruled.
