Betty Tett unmoved by pleas to release son from death row
The biological sister of David William Tett, an adopted son of former nominated MP Betty Tett, has taken to social media to plead with the former assistant minister to have him released from jail.
Ms Anita Smith lives in the United Kingdom and has in the past one week been posting messages on Mrs Tett’s Facebook page asking her to release William.
She wrote: “ Hello Auntie Betty, I am asking (with God’s blessing) for you to get Billy out of jail and allow him to come to come to England where I will make sure he is looked after and works.
“He will not be coming back to Kenya. I will be the one to look after my brother Billy. I beg you,” she said in a post on Mrs Tett’s page.
Anita’s posts have widely been shared by Kenyans living in the United Kingdom both on Twitter and Facebook since April 17.
CHILDREN OF TETT’S COUSIN
Anita and David are children of Mrs Tett’s cousin. Their mother died when they were six years and one year respectively. David was subsequently adopted by Mrs Tett, while Anita was adopted by Mrs Tett’s sister-in-law who lives in England.
The other eight children were adopted by relatives.
Last year, David Tett was sentenced to death for robbing his foster father at gunpoint in their Karen home.
The court found him guilty of being part of a gang that violently robbed Mr William Mulready Tett, on September 6, 2011 in Karen, Nairobi.
Nairobi Chief Magistrate Kiarie Waweru ruled that the prosecution had proven beyond reasonable doubt that David committed the crime.
In her social media campaign, Anita has posted screen shots of her communication with Mrs Tett and her family, and also communication with her brother David who is in Kamiti Maximum Prison.
RUINING MY NAME
When contacted on phone, Mrs Tett confirmed that Anita is David’s biological sister.
“She has no idea what the brother did. She lives in England and never grew up with William. She has no idea what she is talking about” Mrs Tett told Nairobi News.
She said she had forgiven her adopted son for what he did, but did not mention the possibility of her pardoning him and getting him out of jail.
“What Anita is doing on social media is just ruining my name. She has no idea what happened and by the way, that is not the way to ask for pardon for a brother. There is a better way to ask. I have deleted the posts from my wall because they are baseless” she said.
Mrs Tett said she had loved her adopted son all his life and had taken him to schools even her own children never attended.
REVOLVER AND KNIFE
David was charged with violently robbing his father while armed with a revolver and a knife. He stole a wallet containing Sh1, 000, an ATM card, Visa Card, Alien Identity Card, two medical cards, three supermarket smart cards and a mobile phone all valued at Sh157,000.
According to the prosecution, David, in cahoots with others, raided his parents’ home in Karen, Nairobi, and robbed his father and two domestic workers.
Two gangsters were shot dead by police who responded to the alarm raised by the former MP’s employee. The police recovered five mobile phones, a revolver loaded with four bullets and a knife.
In his defense, the young Tett said that he was a victim of circumstances, that he was hijacked by the robbers who asked him at gunpoint to take them to his parents’ home and had no alternative but to comply.
However, the magistrate ruled that the evidence of the witnesses was sufficient to prove that David was with the attackers and that he actively participated in the robbery.