A man sentenced to four years in prison for stabbing and grievously injuring his wife’s lover has been set free by a Kenyan High Court following an appeal.

Justice Hatari Waweru allowed the appeal by Michael Kimondo who had been convicted of grievous harm on May 24, 2018.

Justice Waweru, while releasing the convict, said only a very foolish man would enter another man’s house and bed with that other man’s wife.

Such a man, he said, would ordinarily be deserving of whatever might come to him including grievous harm or even death.

“Such a foolish action would amount to a very grave provocation to the man cuckolded. However, we live in a civilized society and people must always control themselves and not take the law into their own hands, because if everybody were allowed to do that, then we would be living in a jungle and life would probably be brutish and short as some philosopher said,” explained Justice Waweru.

He agreed with Mr Kimondo’s lawyer Mr Wahome Gikonyo that the four-year imprisonment was harsh and excessive, bearing in mind the circumstances in which the offence was committed.

The judge added that in punishing law offenders like Mr Kimondo, the court must always bear in mind the grave provocation which few men can withstand and hold peace.

The court heard that Mr Kimondo stabbed the alleged lover named Mr David Kamau Njuguna on September 17, 2014.

Mr Kimondo had returned home unexpectedly in the morning, having left to work, and found his wife and Mr Njuguna in a compromising situation.

“The appellant found his wife and the complainant in his own house- and apparently in his own bed- in a very compromising situation. In a rage he attacked both of them with a knife and inflicted upon the complainant injuries that amounted to grievous harm,” narrated Justice Waweru.

The wife suffered injuries that amounted to assault causing actual bodily harm. The injuries upon the wife formed basis of a second criminal charge against Mr Kimondo, though the wife subsequently withdrew after they reconciled.