Rally driver Maxine Wahome who was charged with the murder of her boyfriend Asad Khan was Thursday released on an Sh2 million bond.
High court Lilian Mutende said the prosecution did not give convincing evidence to deny the accused bond.
The judge noted that according to Article 49, the accused has a right to be released on bail under conditions unless there are other reasons to be kept in custody.
The judge ordered that the accused deposit her passport in court.
She said Maxine will only travel out of the country with the permission of the court when necessary.
The judge also cautioned Maxine to keep away from any witnesses who have recorded statements and if she does, the bond will be canceled.
The case will be mentioned before the presiding judge on April 19.
Maxine told the court Khan, was an abusive partner and she is the victim, not the villain.
She was charged with the murder of Khan which occurred on December 12 last year after a domestic squabble.
Through her lawyer, Phillip Murgor, she said Khan, who she alleged was a mechanic, had been taking all her sponsorship money leaving her destitute.
Murgor told Justice Mutende that all her sponsorship money went to Khan and his brother.
“Asad was a mechanic who helped Maxine fix her rally cars and when she got famous, all the sponsorship money ended up in the hands of Asad and his brother Adil,” Murgor said.
Murgor also said Khan’s brother Adil Khan is in possession of her rally car and he is demanding Sh2.9 million before he releases it.
Murgor also narrated to the court how Maxine met her boyfriend, saying he approached her.
He said Wahome was a nursery school teacher at a nearby school and the deceased tracked her down and got her contact.
The lawyer said Maxine, 25, got into a relationship with Khan, who died aged 50 when she was 22.
Asad died from injuries he sustained after a fight with Maxine at their house in Kileleshwa.
Asad’s family had opposed Maxine’s application to be released on bail.
In a pre-bail report filed in court, Khan’s brother Adil Khan has told the court that the two families are now worst enemies.
Adil expressed the pain they have endured as a family due to the death of his brother. Both Maxine and Asad Khan were celebrity rally drivers.
“Everything happened so fast, unexpectedly. One moment the two families are all happy and celebrating in a rally and the next they are the worst of enemies,” the report reads.
Maxine had been in a relationship with the deceased for three years and had been staying together at the deceased’s rented apartment at Oloitokitok road in Kileleshwa for one year and six months.
Maxine told police Khan was injured in an altercation with her after she came home late in the morning.
She added he broke a window pane that injured him in the ankle as she hid on a balcony.
She is the daughter of another motorsport legend, Jimmy Wahome, and she rose through the motoring ranks to become the first Kenyan woman to score points in the World Rally Championship-supported junior category when she won the WRC3 category for drivers aged 27 and below in June this year behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta R3.
