Nairobi - A Kenyan court ruled on Wednesday that Thomas Cholmondeley, descendant of one of the country's most famous white settlers, should present his defence in a murder case that has stoked longstanding racial tensions.

The great-grandson of Lord Delamere has admitted shooting black Kenyan stonemason Robert Njoya, whom he accused of poaching on his 22 000ha Soysambu farm in May 2006.

Cholmondeley, who is the son of the fifth Lord Delamere, denied murdering Njoya, saying he was acting in self-defence.

The aristocrat's family is one of Kenya's largest landowners and is famed for its association with the wealthy white settlers of colonial east Africa's Happy Valley set whose passions for big game hunting, adultery and lavish parties inspired the book and film White Mischief.

'Second murder case against the aristocrat'

Kenya's judicial system allows a court to terminate a trial before a defendant presents his case, if the judge deems that prosecutors do not have enough evidence to make their case against the accused person.

"After carefully considering the evidence adduced by 38 witnesses, the prosecution has established a prima facie case for the accused to be put on his defence," Justice Muga Apondi told a packed Nairobi courtroom.

Defence lawyer Fred Ojiambo told the court he would present seven witnesses including a police officer from the national firearms bureau.

The trial is the second murder case against the aristocrat, who was also accused of killing a black wildlife ranger in 2005.

That case was dropped for lack of evidence, to major public outcry and suggestions from many Kenyans that there were still two sets of laws - one for whites and one for blacks.

"Famed for his gin-soaked antics'

The cases have fanned simmering colonial-era resentment against white settlers who carved out large swathes of land for themselves during British rule in Kenya.

In the Njoya case for which he is now on trial, Cholmondeley told police he and a friend were walking on his ranch when he saw five men with machetes, bows and arrows and a dead impala.

Cholmondeley told police he shot at Njoya and a dog after he asked the men to stop but they set their dogs on him instead. The men however say he fired as they fled from him.

The original Lord Delamere was famed for his gin-soaked antics and his name was given to a bar at the Norfolk Hotel that was one of his favourite haunts and remains a must-stop for European visitors to Nairobi.

Although many Kenyans complain about white farmers, many others are also resentful of wealthy black Kenyans who allocated themselves massive tracts of land after independence from Britain in 1963.