[2018]DLSC257 • March 8, 2018 • Supreme Court •
KINGSLEY KUCHAMA a.k.a FRIDAY vs. THE REPUBLIC
The appellant and six others were charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery under Act 29 of 1960, and the appellant alone with possession of firearms without lawful authority under Act 112 of 1962. They were arrested after mounting a roadblock near Mankessim, robbing passengers at gunpoint. The High Court sentenced the appellant to 30 years imprisonment with hard labour, later reduced to 25 years by the Court of Appeal.
read moreJUDGMENT YEBOAH, JSC: My Lords, this appeal raises an issue for our consideration in respect of failure on the part of a trial court to record a conviction before sentence. To appreciate the reasons for our decision, a brief summary of the facts will suffice. The appellant herein and six others were charged with the offences of conspiracy to commit robbery contrary section 23(1) and 149 of Act 29, and Robbery contrary to section 149 of Act 29 of 1960. It appears that he was solely also charged with possession of firearms without lawful authority contrary to section 6 of Act 112 of 1962. The appellant and others whose appeal is now before us on 3/11/2002 had boarded different vehicles from Accra bound for Mankessim in the Central Region and all of them alighted at Enyisam Abbor, a town near Mankessim. On the following day, which was the 4th /11/2002, the appellant and others armed with pump action gun, cutlasses, knives, etc mounted a road block on the main Accra – M.....