THE REPUBLIC vs. LAWRENCE ADJEI [2015]DLHC3565

Date	2015-05-08
Suit No.	CASE NO.73/15
Citation No.	[2015]DLHC3565

HER LADYSHIP ANGELINA MENSAH-HOMIAH (MRS.) JUSTICE OF THE HIGH COURT

[2015]DLHC3565
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >THE REPUBLIC<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; vs.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>LAWRENCE ADJEI<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;[HIGH COURT (COMMERCIAL
COURT), KUMASI]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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CASE NO.73/15&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; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;DATE: 8TH MAY, 2015<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;
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HER
LADYSHIP ANGELINA MENSAH-HOMIAH (MRS.) JUSTICE OF THE HIGH COURT<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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</div>&nbsp;“Our world is utterly saturated with fear...
we fear being injured, robbed or attacked..." Brenden Myers. &nbsp;And, I add, robbery victims are no exception
to this web of fear! What is the genesis of this case?<o:p></o:p>The
complainant is said to be an epileptic patient, abandoned to his fate and
sleeping in the open. Yet, he was attacked by armed men!&nbsp; That shows the high level of crime in our
society and the courts have a duty to bring such monstrous crimes under
control.<o:p></o:p>There
are two counts on the charge sheet against the accused persons herein;
conspiracy to commit crime to wit robbery and robbery, contrary to sections 23(1) and 149 of the Criminal Offences Act,
1960, Act 29. Only the first accused person (A1) is standing trial, the
others are at large.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;The facts of the case are that the complainant
is an epileptic patient, with no specific place of abode and comes to the Adum
Kejetia area to beg for alms. On 12/07/2014, the complainant passed the night
in front of a store near the railway station in Adum. Whilst sleeping at about
2:30 am, he felt a sharp movement in his pocket. He suddenly woke up to find
that A1 and the others at large had cut his pocket and had taken cash the sum
of GH¢180.00, a nokia mobile phone worth GH¢90.00 and his personal belongings
worth GH¢230.00. The victim held A1 and demanded the return of his money but A1
inflicted a sharp wound on his neck.&nbsp; A1
then passed on the money, mobile phone and luggage to his accomplices and they
all took to their heels. The victim raised an alarm and witnesses chased and
arrested A1 but the others escaped. They collected the knife from A1. The
accused person denied the offence in his cautioned statement but later
volunteered a statement admitting the offence.<o:p></o:p>It
is important to set identify the ingredients of the offences leveled against the
accused. These can be found in section 23(1) and 150 of Act 29 thus:<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;Section 23 (1):<o:p></o:p>"
Where two or more persons agree to act together with a common purpose for or in
committing or abetting a criminal offence, whether with or without a pervious
concert or deliberation, each of them commits a conspiracy to commit or abet
the criminal offence."<o:p></o:p>Section
150:<o:p></o:p>"
A person who steals &nbsp;a things is guilty
of robbery if and for the purpose of stealing he uses force or causes harm to
any other person, or if he uses a threat or criminal assault or harm to any
other person, with intent to prevent or overcome the resistance of the other
person to the stealing of the thing."<o:p></o:p>To
be able to get the accused convicted, the prosecution must establish his guilt
by proving these ingredients beyond reasonable doubt. The statutory provisions
for this legal burden are sections 11(2) and 13(1) of the Evidence Act, 1975
N.R.C.D. 323 which state:<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sec 11(2)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; " In a criminal action the
burden of producing evidence, when it is on the prosecution as to any fact
which is essential to guilt, requires the pro</main>