ADU BOAHENE vs. THE REPUBLIC [1971]DLCA2186

Date	1971-07-16
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1971]DLCA2186

AZU CRABBE J.S.C

LASSEY JA

JIAGGE J.A.

ODOI ANNAN FOR THE APPELLANT.

MRS. J. AMANKWAH SENIOR STATE ATTORNEY FOR THE REPUBLIC.

[1971]DLCA2186
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >ADU BOAHENE <o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;[COURT OF APPEAL]<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[1972] 1 GLR 70<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

DATE:
16 JULY 1971.<o:p></o:p>

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

ODOI ANNAN FOR THE APPELLANT.<o:p></o:p>

MRS. J. AMANKWAH, SENIOR STATE ATTORNEY, FOR THE REPUBLIC.<o:p></o:p>

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

AZU CRABBE J.S.C., LASSEY AND JIAGGE
JJ.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF AZU CRABBE, J.S.C.<o:p></o:p>Azu
Crabbe J.S.C. delivered the judgment of the court. The appellant was convicted
on 6 November 1970 at the Eastern Region Criminal Sessions held at Accra upon
an indictment containing two counts: one for conspiracy, and another for
robbery, and was sentenced by Koi Larbi J.S.C. (sitting as an additional judge
of the High Court) to five years’ imprisonment with hard labour on the first
count, and fifteen years’ imprisonment with hard labour on the second count,
the sentences to run concurrently.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
facts, so far as they are relevant, can be shortly stated. The victim of the
robbery, William Kyei Appiah, was a petrol dealer of the Agip (Ghana) Ltd., and
his petrol station was on the Cantonments Road, Osu, Accra. On 7 November 1969
at about 9 p.m. he left the petrol station for his house, and carried in his
hand a bag containing money and some documents. On the way he met two young men
coming from the opposite direction, and after he had passed them, he looked
behind and noticed that the two young men were following him. When they came
close to him they seized his bag, and he exclaimed: “What is the matter!”
Suddenly, he saw another person, whom he recognised as the appellant, arrive at
the spot from another direction and joined the two young men to attack him.
There ensued a struggle between him and the three young men in the course of
which he heard one of his assailants say “Shoot.” He said he then felt that a
hard object had hit his head, and he began to bleed profusely. He was blinded
by the blood oozing from the wound on his head, and his assailants snatched his
handbag from him and ran away with it. He had known the appellant for about
two-and-a-half years before that day, and had seen the appellant at the petrol
station less than an hour before the attack. The appellant said in evidence
that he frequently visited the petrol station managed by the complainant, and
was a friend of all the employees there. One witness, Clement Osae Asiedu, who
gave evidence for the prosecution, said that he had known the appellant for two
years and had seen him often at the petrol station of the complainant, and
that, on the night in question, when he heard shouts of “Thief! thief!” he came
out of his house and saw some people running after a caravan car. The witness
said that he saw the appellant as he boarded the caravan car and disappeared.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>A report
of the robbery was made by the complainant to the Cantonments Police, and,
subsequently, the complainant and Clement Osae Asiedu led a police officer to
the appellant’s house at about midnight, and the complainant pointed out the
room in which the appellant lived. The appellant had gone to bed, and when the
police officer knocked his door he came out and was immediately identified by
the complainant and Clement Osae Asiedu. The appellant was told by the police
officer that he was wanted at the Cantonments Police Station. The appellant
then said to the police officer: “What is the matter? Search me, search me.”
The appellant was searched, but nothing incriminating was found in his room.
His clothes were also examined by the police officer, but there was no evidence
of bloodstains on them. The appellant denied the allegation against him, and
said that the two witnesses who identified him were mistaken and that he was
not at the scene of the crime that night, for he went to bed between 7.30 p.m.
and 8 p.m.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>In this
case there is no dispute that on the night of 17 November 1969 the complainant
was violently robbed by three young men, as he was on his way to his house, and
the only issue at the trial was whether the appellant was one of the criminals.
In a summing-up, which we think was thorough, fair, and unimpeachable, the
learned trial judge told the jury as follows:<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">“The
prisoner in his evidence emphatically denied that he wa</main>