[1967]DLHC1474 • October 17, 1967 • High Court
BRUCE-KONUAH vs. THE REPUBLIC
The appellant, a doctor at Tema Hospital, was convicted of assaulting his neighbour's wife by slapping her, which caused her spectacles to fall and break. The dispute arose from a quarrel over a hedge separating their properties. The appellant denied the slap, claiming the complainant slipped and fell without his physical contact. A material witness, Mr. Woode, who could have clarified the incident, was not called by either party.
read moreJUDGMENT OF AMISSAH J.A. The appellant in this case was convicted of assault upon the complainant, the wife of his neighbour. There was a second charge of causing damage to the complainant’s spectacles upon which he was also convicted. The prosecution’s case which the court accepted, was that prior to the day of the incident, relations had become strained between the neighbours. There was a hedge which separated their two properties. It had a hole in it. The appellant sought to block it. The complainant and her husband, taking the view that the hedge was wholly within their property objected to the appellant’s interference with it. Heated arguments between the parties on either side of the hedge occurred over the rival claims. On the day of the incident, the complainant’s husband had got someone to remove the barriers erected by the appellant blocking the openings in the hedge. But this man had been stopped by the appellant. When the complainant’s husband returned from wor...