A MURDER accused from Millom, who faced the death penalty in Africa, has been acquitted of the charges.
Carl Gary Singleton had been accused of killing his 22-year-old Kenyan girlfriend, Peris Ashley Agumbi. Justice Hedwig Ong'udi said the prosecution had failed to prove the charges and freed the 43-year-old.
Miss Agumbi, a student at the University of Nairobi, died from diabetes-related complications soon after she reported to police that Mr Singleton had assaulted her in November 2014. The prosecution attempted to show that the former van driver was responsible for her death by denying her medicine after the alleged assault by flushing it down the toilet.
The couple met on Facebook two years before Miss Agumbi’s death, and Mr Singleton, of Market Street, Millom, flew to Kenya to spend time with her. He was accused of murdering his girlfriend on November 19, 2014, at Neptune Estate in Gachie, Nairobi.
After first appearing in court in December that year, Mr Singleton was released after police indicated they would open an inquest file into Miss Agumbi's death. But Kenya's Director of Public Prosecutions, Keriako Tobiko, later revisited the file and decided to charge him with murder.
Mr Singleton was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as he attempted to travel back to the UK on February 5. He always denied his girlfriend’s murder.
After pleading not guilty to the offence, Mr Singleton was remanded in custody to await trial. Under Kenyan law, he could have faced the death penalty had he been found guilty.
Read more:
Millom man could face death penalty after being charged with murder
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