Anne Margaret Champion. She was charged for not paying her bill at the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi. [Photo: Nairobi News]A South African woman has been charged in court for not paying her bill at the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi.
47-year-old Anne Margaret Champion who appeared before Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi on Wednesday denied the charges.
She is accused of ordering drinks worth Sh386,988.66 on different occasions between July 22 and August 14 this year.
“The accused falsely pretended that she was in a position to pay the hotel bills a fact which she knew was false,” the prosecution told the court.
The prosecution decried that she would flee the country if she was released on bond but her lawyer argued that she could avail her identification and travel documents before the court.
Initially, the court heard that the bill was USD 6,000.
According to Magistrate Andayi, every accused person in Kenya has the right to a bond.
“It is not the nature of such hotels to detain clients. If you are given bond and you fail to pay, we have nice facilities where we will have you kept until the hearing of your case,” said the Magistrate.
Champion said, “It’s not good if the court throws me to the streets. I have a relative called George but he has not abandoned me. He has been very supportive all through.”
She was released on a Sh100,000 bond awaiting the mentioning of her case on August 28 and the trial on September 4.