HAMZA IBRAHIM vs. THE REPUBLIC [2016]DLHC3812

Date	2016-01-22
Suit No.	CASE NO.CRAP/01/16
Citation No.	[2016]DLHC3812

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

SARFO GYAMFI FOR APPELLANT.

NANA AMA DANKWAA KESSEY (ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY) FOR REPUBLIC.

[2016]DLHC3812
																																						<div class="restriction-wrapper">
														<div class="container-lg">
															<div class="row">
																<div class="col-md-12 restricted-content">
																	<div class="restricted-content-img-wrapper">
																		<div class="lock-icon bounce-7">
																			<img class=""
																				src="https://www.dennislawgh.com/dl-assets/dl-images/lock-content.png"
																				alt="Subscription based content">
																		</div>
																	</div>
																	 
																		<a href="https://www.dennislawgh.com/login"
																		class="btn btn-primary btn-lg"
																		style="font-family: 'open sans'; text-transform: capitalize; border-radius: 8px"> 
																		Login to Read Full Case </a>
																	 
																	
																</div>
															</div>
														</div>
													</div>
													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >HAMZA IBRAHIM<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;[HIGH COURT (COMMERCIAL DIVISION), KUMASI]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

CASE NO.CRAP/01/16&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: 22ND JANUARY, 2016<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>SARFO GYAMFI FOR
APPELLANT.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

NANA
AMA DANKWAA KESSEY (ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY) FOR REPUBLIC.<o:p></o:p>

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;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

</div>The
Appellant herein was arraigned before the Circuit Court, Kumasi on a charge of
causing unlawful harm contrary to section 60 of the Criminal and Other Offences
Act, 1960, Act 29.&nbsp; The particulars of
offence&nbsp; were that he intentionally and
unlawfully caused harm to one Awudu Issaka.<o:p></o:p>He
pleaded not guilty to this charge&nbsp; and
after a full trial, he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment
with hard labour. Aggrieved by the said conviction and sentence, the appellant
brought the instant appeal to set aside the said conviction and sentence.<o:p></o:p>GROUNDS
OF APPEAL.<o:p></o:p>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;The
Judgment is against the weight of the evidence on record<o:p></o:p>2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
The Learned&nbsp;
Judge failed to give weight to the statutory defence of self defence as
alleged by the Prisoner.<o:p></o:p>BACKGROUND
FACTS<o:p></o:p>The
facts are quite simple and straight forward.&nbsp;
At about 7:00pm on 28/05/2013, a misunderstanding ensued between the
Appellant&nbsp; and the Complainant at Adukrom
but the same was brought under control by onlookers. Not satisfied with the
turn of events, the appellant went home , brought out a sharp cutlass , engaged
the Complainant in a fight during which he inflicted deep multiple wounds on
the Complainant's neck, head, left leg and his five fingers.&nbsp; The Appellant was the first to lodge a
complaint at the police Station when the complainant was in a coma&nbsp; and had been&nbsp;
admitted at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi. The Appellant
was later arrested on 05/06/13 and he admitted the offence in his caution
statement.<o:p></o:p>I
must say that Counsel for the Appellant&nbsp;
and the Learned Assistant State Attorney for the Republic failed to file
their respective written submissions as ordered by the court on 04/11/2015. I
will therefore proceed to peruse the record of proceedings to determine this
appeal.<o:p></o:p>The
first ground of appeal was not properly formulated. The proper rendition ought
to be " The verdict is unreasonable having regard to the
evidence".&nbsp; Under his ground of
appeal, the Court is enjoined to look at the evidence as a whole to see if the
trial judge adequately evaluated the evidence on record before making a finding
that the prosecution had proved&nbsp; a case
of causing unlawful harm against&nbsp; the
Appellant. <o:p></o:p>What
are the elements&nbsp; which constitute the
offence of unlawful&nbsp; harm? This can be
ascertained from the plain meaning of section 69 of the Criminal and other
Offences Act, 1960, Act 29 which states:<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; " A person who intentionally
and unlawfully causes harm to any other person causes a second degree
felony"<o:p></o:p>From
the above, the constituent elements are that the harm caused must not only be
intentional, but also unlawful. For an act to be intentional, there must be
evidence that the perpetrator&nbsp;
deliberately&nbsp; caused the same or
ought to have known that his action would result in that act.&nbsp; These</main>