AGYIRI vs. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE [1963]DLSC1904

Date	1963-11-01
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1963]DLSC1904

CRABBE JSC

MILLS-ODOI JSC

BLAY JSC

APPELLANT IN PERSON

D. F. ANNAN

SENIOR STATE ATTORNEY

FOR THE RESPONDENT.

[1963]DLSC1904
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AGYIRI

[SUPREME COURT]

[1963] 2 GLR 380

DATE: 1ST NOVEMBER, 1963.

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COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp;

APPELLANT
IN PERSON.

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CRABBE, MILLS-ODOI AND BLAY
JJ.S.C.

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&nbsp;

Mills-Odoi J.S.C. delivered the judgment of the court. We allowed
this appeal at the last sitting, and now give our reasons for so doing.

The appellant was, until the 18th October, 1961, an employee of
the Ghana National Construction Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the
corporation) and stationed at Takoradi. His duties included the preparation of
orders for the supply of goods. According to the practice of the corporation,
the orders were signed by the manager and sent to the suppliers whereupon the
goods were supplied and delivered to the store-keeper of the corporation who
signed a receipt for them. At the end of the month the suppliers sent a debit
note to the corporation whose accountant authorised payment after satisfying
himself that all was well.

On a particular date not specified on the record, the manager of
Allied Business Company sent to the corporation a bill for the sum of £G15
16s., being the cost of three cases of nails which his company had supplied to
the corporation on the 27th October, 1961, on the strength of an order from the
said corporation dated the 25th October, 1961, and numbered 6354. The
accountant of the corporation whose duty it was to authorise payment called for
the storekeeper’s books in order to satisfy himself that the nails had in fact
been delivered to the corporation. He did not find any record indicating that
they had been received. He therefore called for the order book from which order
form number 6354 was prepared; but he could not find it either. He became
suspicious and reported the matter to the manager of the Takoradi branch of the
corporation, because to the best of his knowledge the corporation did not
transact any business with the Allied Business Company.

The evidence on record did not show that the matter was reported
to the police. Nevertheless, the appellant was arrested and prosecuted at the
Circuit Court, Takoradi, on charges of forgery of the order No. 6354 dated the
25th October, 1961 and stealing the three cases of nails valued at £G15 16s. He
was acquitted and discharged on the charge of forgery, but was convicted of
fraud by false pretences in respect of the other charge and sentenced to two
years imprisonment with hard labour. He then appealed to this court.

The prosecution’s case against the appellant depended solely on
the evidence of the manager of the Allied Business Company who deposed at the
trial, inter alia, as follows:

“On the 27th October, 1961, the accused came to our store and
asked the price of nails and I told him and he said he would return in the
afternoon with order to collect the goods. It was the first time I had seen
him. He said he was from Ghana National Construction Corporation. In the
afternoon he came and gave an order for Ghana National Construction Corporation
for the supply of nails. I gave him the nails, three cases of them.
Identification one is the order he brought. I believed the accused was from
Ghana National Construction Corporation and had a genuine order. The accused
came alone, the cost of the nails was £G15 16s. I prepared a debit note in
duplicate which the accused signed and I gave him the original. This is the
copy and is dated the 27th October, 1961, numbered 2351 for three cases of
nails, identification 2. The accused brought a mammy truck which took the nails
away. At the end of the month I sent my bill to Ghana National Construction
Corporation and then the case arose.”

The appellant’s defence was a complete denial of the fact that he
visited the store of the Allied Business Company on the 27th October, 1961, and
presented the order form No. 6354 for the supply of three cases of nails on the
representation that he was, at the material date, an employee of the
corporation. He denied further that he signed the debit note (identification 2)
and took delivery of the three cases of nails. He said when he was dismissed,
and before he left the premises of the corporation, he handed over all the
books in his possession to the corporation.

The crucial matter that fell for the determination of the trial
court was whether the appellant was the person who visited the store of Allied
Business Company and transacted business with the manager on the 27th October,
1961. According to the manager of the Allied Business Company, he saw the
appellant for the first time on the 27th October, 1961, when he (appellant)
asked him for the price of nails and when he returned again the same afternoon
and gave him the order form (identification 1) for the supply of nails. Relying
on identification 1 as genuine, he prepared a debit note in duplicate which the
appellant signed. The latter was given the original and he left with the three
cases of nails.