A former Scotland Yard detective aspired to visit the Kenyan coast and enjoy the famous sandy beaches.
To actualise this, KBH embarked on the mission, and touched down in Kenya sometime in 2016.
As is the norm with every tourist visiting the country, KBH set camp in Diani, a tourist resort town in Kwale County, in the South Coast.
In the tropical beaches of Diani, Barry enjoys his stay in Kenya, basking in the warmth and sun, he would meet a beautiful damsel by chance—HMI.
Within a blink of an eye, KBH and HMI’s budding ‘relationship’ was full-blown… one that got the lady pregnant, and by 2017, the couple was welcoming a bouncing baby boy.
But just as the steamy affair started within a blink of an eye, it also ended within a spur of a moment, and what followed was a protracted court cases after cases, with KBH and HMI tussling over the custody of the the then three-year-old boy.
The tag of war over child custody began in 2019, with HMI filing a case at the Mombasa law courts, seeking KSh180,000 in monthly child maintenance from Barry.
KBH responded swiftly, not only making a countersuit opposing the claim, but also demanding custody over the child, accusing HMI of deliberately denying him access to seeing his son.
However, HMI hit back, seeking an injunction through her lawyer to block KBH from gaining custody of the child.
What followed was a flurry of court motions and counterclaims. KBH alleged that Imokor was involved in multiple relationships, and one of them, with a married German national, and questioned her moral and fitness to raise the child.
Despite the back and forth, the Mombasa High Court decided to strike a middle ground. The court in a 2021 ruling, ordered that the parents share the custody.
“The mother and the father share legal and actual custody of the child. Before schools open in July, the mother shall have custody from Monday 9am to Thursday 4am,” ruled Justice John Onyiego.
Additionally, Justice Onyiego ruled that when schools open for the first term, Imokor stays with the child from Sunday 5pm to Friday 5pm, and Barry can take the child from Friday 5pm to Sunday 5pm.
But what seemed like an agreement was far from the end.
The case resurfaced in the Court of Appeal, where 3 judges; Justice Lesiit, Vincent Odunga, and Gatembu Kiaru declared the High Court ruling wrong.
In a dramatic turn of events, the judges granted full custody to Barry in February 2024, saying HMI was found to be of bad morals, violent and aggressive, and one who had no regard for authority.
“That was not the kind of person to give custody of a child, especially one of tender years. The minor is six years old, a critical age for the establishment of character, behaviour development, and social and psychological growth. It was important that at that age, he should get better influence and a stable environment, which his mother was incapable of providing,” ruled the judges.
KBH, on the other hand, was vindicated. The judges dismissed claims about him since he retired from service, and his status changed to a class K, granting him permanent residency in Kenya.
Additionally, the judges said KBH had demonstrated to the court that he had procured a home for the child in Mtwapa and was not residing in Kenya on a tourist visa, and this won him full custody of his son.
“…it is apparent that the (High Court) failed to consider critical evidence and facts presented before the court, in particular, the changed status of the (father), thus arriving at a wrong conclusion that he was not suitable… we find that the (High Court) was conflicted on which order to make in the case,” ruled the Court of Appeal.
