The suspect who had sought redress at the court of appeal suffered a blow after the Court of Appeal in Nyeri threw out his appeal.

Earlier, a magistrates court had handed him a life sentence but it was reduced to 40 years by the High Court after he appealed.

Valid ruling

Justices William Ouko, Fatuma Sichale and Sankale Kantai said the sentence was valid.

"The court would be entitled to interfere with the sentence if it was demonstrated it was illegal or too harsh or excessive," the judges explained.

"The High Court had exercised its discretionary power to interfere with the life sentence and replace it with a shorter one," they added.

Threatened

The man was accused of defiling his Class Three daughter on diverse dates between June 2011 and October 2011 at Kiuu village in Mukurwe-ini.

On October 7, the girl’s teacher noticed the girl walking unusually and questioned her.

She disclosed that her father had sexually assaulted her on three occasions and was threatened to stay silent. Dr David Kabuga of Mukurwe-ini District Hospital confirmed that the pupil was assaulted sexually.