SAUNDERS vs. AWUDU [1962]DLHC1703

Date	1962-06-18
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1962]DLHC1703

APALOO J.

A. A. AKAINYAH FOR THE PLAINTIFF.

S. K. K. SOTOMEY FOR THE DEFENDANT.

[1962]DLHC1703
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" ><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;
mso-fareast-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;
color:#548DD4">SAUNDERS<o:p></o:p><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;
mso-fareast-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;
color:#548DD4">&nbsp; vs. <o:p></o:p><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;
mso-fareast-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;
color:#548DD4">AWUDU <o:p></o:p>[HIGH COURT, KUMASI]<o:p></o:p>[1962] 1 GLR 472<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid black 1.5pt;
padding:31.0pt 31.0pt 1.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">

DATE:<span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;
mso-fareast-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;
color:#00B0F0"> 18TH JUNE, 1962.<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid black 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

A.
A. AKAINYAH FOR THE PLAINTIFF.<o:p></o:p>

S.
K. K. SOTOMEY FOR THE DEFENDANT.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM: <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid black 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

APALOO J.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF
APALOO J.<o:p></o:p>In this action, the plaintiff, as the widow of the late Dr. George
Saunders, claims for herself and on behalf of her two children damages under
the Fatal Accidents Act, 1846,1(1) as amended by the Law Reform (Civil Wrongs)
Act, 1959. 2(2)<o:p></o:p>The late Dr. Saunders was born in Dublin, Ireland on the 2nd September,
1896. He was a doctor of medicine and came to this country as a government
medical officer many years ago. He was at one time stationed at Kintampo. While
there, he struck some sort of association with the plaintiff whose home is near
Kintampo. The plaintiff said the doctor married her according to custom. There
is, in my opinion, no reason to disbelieve this. The evidence satisfies me that
the plaintiff and the late Dr. Saunders lived and cohabited together in the
eyes of the world as man and wife. This union was blessed with two children
namely Georgina who is aged 17 and Stephen who is just 14.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Sometime in 1953, the late Dr. Saunders must have decided to
cement his union with the plaintiff on a more permanent basis. Accordingly, on
the 18th March of that year, both the late Dr. Saunders and the plaintiff went
through a ceremony of marriage before the Deputy Registrar of Marriages,
Kumasi. That marriage was celebrated under the Marriage Ordinance,3(3) and the
plaintiff produced and tendered in evidence a certificate of marriage, exhibit
A. Some years before his death, the late Dr. Saunders retired from government
service on pension. The evidence is imprecise when this was. He then built
himself some sort of a bungalow at Old Tafo in the suburb of Kumasi and there
he lived with the plaintiff and their children. The evidence shows that this
was a closely knit and united family. At his residence at Old Tafo, the
deceased carried on his calling as a doctor and ran what seems to be a small
clinic. He employed a clerk and a nurse.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>At sixty-four, the deceased still had some youthful pleasures and
appeared to have been enjoying active life. One of such pleasures, I am
satisfied, was going to the cinema. His favourite cinema seems to be the Odeon
which his son Stephen estimates to be about a mile and a half from their home
at Old Tafo. On the 5th November, 1960, the deceased was driving his car, an
Opel Record to this cinema. Almost at the entrance gate of the cinema, his car
was in collision with a Vauxhall saloon car owned and driven by the defendant.
This took place about 6.45 p.m. His car was very badly damaged and was written
off as a total loss. Dr. Saunders himself sustained a dislocation of his left
hip. Unfortunately, complications soon set in. He had bilateral pneumonia. Dr.
Rail, the physician specialist who treated him, said he made excellent recovery
from this illness, but died suddenly on getting out of bed from an illness he
described in technical language as pulmonary embolus. According to Dr. Rail,
this illness was the direct result of the immobilisation of the leg. In other
words, Dr. Saunders died as a result of the injuries which he sustained in the
accident in which he was involved on the 5th November, 1960.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The plaintiff claims that the accident occurred as a result of the
negligent driving of the defendant and that by the death of the deceased she
and her children have lost the breadwinner of the family and accordingly claims
damages under the Acts to which I have referred. Per contra, the defendant says
the accident was caused or contributed to by the deceased himself by his
negligence, and on his part, counterclaims against the plaintiff for the cost
of repairs to his car.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>As far as the actual accident is concerned, each side put into the
witness-box two witnesses. For the plaintiff, Stephen, Dr. Saunders’
fourteen-year-old son and his cook’s son Nayorem gave evidence. The substance
of their evidence is that when the deceased’s car reached a spot opposite to
the entrance of t</main>