British aristocrat had no excuse for killing poacher court told(Times online,25/9/07)

The heir to Kenya’s most famous white settler family appeared in court at the start of his trial for murder amid chaotic scenes today.
Spectators pushed and shoved their way into Nairobi’s colonial era courthouse for a glimpse of the honourable Tom Cholmondeley, 38, who stands accused of killing a black trespasser on his land.
It is the second time in little more than a year that he has been accused of murder in a case that has electrified Kenya, reigniting old tensions over race, land and class.

The sole heir to the fifth Baron Delamere stared impassively at the floor and was forced to close his eyes to avoid the cameras thrust in his face, even after proceedings had begun.
He admits shooting Robert Njoya, a 37-year-old father of four, but says he fired his hunting rifle at the poacher’s dogs.
Mr Cholmondeley’s quivering jaw was the sole sign of emotion as the prosecution outlined its case.
Keriako Tobiko, director of public prosecutions, said Mr Njoya was shot by a high-powered rifle as he fled from Mr Cholmondeley.
"We shall prove that the accused attacked the deceased and his companions as a retaliation or revenge for trespassing and poaching on his land," he said.
"We shall present evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused by his unlawful act with malice aforethought caused the death of Robert Njoya.
"The accused has no legally recognised justification or excuse for causing the death of the deceased," he told the court.
A selection of exhibits spilled on to the floor at his feet as spectators pushed closer trying catch every word. Snares, a machete and the victim’s clothing tumbled from boxes and brown paper packages lending an African air to a very British-looking scene.
The upright figures of Mr Cholmondeley’s parents - Lord Delamere and his wife Ann, wearing pearls with the khaki uniform favoured by many white Kenyans - were among his supporters in the wood-panelled courtroom.
Theirs is an increasingly anachronistic way of life and one that has all but disappeared in England.
Today the descendants of white settlers still own some of Kenya’s most fertile farmland or run ranches teeming with wildlife.
Some breed horses for racing and the polo that forms much of the social scene.
Their daughters design jewellery or work on conservation ranches; their sons run safari companies or train as pilots.
Mr Cholmondeley’s friends and family in court today heard evidence from Peter Gichuri, 28, who had been poaching with Mr Njoya on the day he died.
He said they had collected a gazelle from a snare and were planning to hang its carcase from a tree.
"Near the tree we heard a load sound. It was a gunshot. I heard one and then three more so we started running," he said in faltering Swahili.
He and a third poacher were separated from Mr Njoya, and it was only later that they realised he had not fled the scene.
Mr Cholmondeley, who wore a cream linen suit, has pleaded not guilty to murder, maintaining he shot Njoya by accident on the vast Delamere ranch in Kenya’s central Rift Valley in May.
The case is the second in which the Eton-educated aristocrat has been accused of killing a Kenyan on the Soysambu farm, about 75 miles northwest of Nairobi.
He pleaded not guilty in the first as well, claiming to have killed a wildlife ranger he mistook for a thief in self defence. That charge was dropped for lack of evidence last year, prompting widespread outrage.
Supporters of Mr Cholmondeley say he has been portrayed unfairly as a racist, gun-toting toff.
The Delamere family released a statement at the end of today’s proceedings saying they were glad the case was under way after week’s of speculation.
"We are confident in the due process of Kenya’s judicial system and the court. We are grateful for having the court to bring out the truth," it said.
Earlier, Mr Cholmondeley emerged from a prison van wearing a cream linen suit alongside dozens of filthy inmates from Kamiti maximum security prison.
He faces the death penalty if convicted of murder although it is a decade since Kenya carried out an execution.
However, Judge Muga Apondi is allowed under Kenyan law to convict him of a lesser crime if he believes the evidence fails to prove murder.
It is understood that Mr Cholmondeley has been told to prepare himself for a two-year sentence inside Kenya’s notoriously rough prison system.
But with the prosecution’s case resting with the testimony of two self-confessed poachers nothing is certain.
Many ordinary Kenyans fear this case could go the same way as last year’s.
Nancy Njeri Mwenja, a neighbour of the Njoyas, said anything less than a conviction would prompt widespread anger.
"If justice is done then the problem will be solved," she said."If not, then there will be a lot of chaos - there will be no peace."

TIMES ONLINE , 25/9/2007