MUSAH BUHARI vs. THE REPUBLIC [2017]DLHC8205

Date	2017-06-20
Suit No.	COURT CASE NO. D15/04/2017
Citation No.	[2017]DLHC8205

HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE JACOB B. BOON

[2017]DLHC8205
																																						<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" >MUSAH BUHARI<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>[HIGH COURT,
BOLGATANGA]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

COURT
CASE NO. D15/04/2017&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: 20TH
JUNE, 2017<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:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE JACOB B. BOON<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:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>This
is appeal from the judgment of Navrongo District Court presided by Her Worship
Comfort A. Apalayine.&nbsp; The judgment was
delivered on 14th July, 2016.&nbsp;
In the court below, the appellant, one Buhari Musah, a young man of 23
years old was charged on three counts as follows:<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>COUNT
ONE<o:p></o:p>STATEMENT
OF OFFENCE<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;CAUSING UNLAWFUL DAMAGE:- Contrary to section
172 of Act 29/60<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;PARTICULARS OF OFFENCE<o:p></o:p>BUHARI
MUSAH: Carpenter:- On the 10th day of January, 2016 at
Namolo/Navrongo in the Upper East Region and within the jurisdiction of this
court, you intentionally and unlawfully caused damage to padlock and inches
(sic) value GHø100.0, the property of&nbsp;
Ghana Education Service (G.E.S).<o:p></o:p>COUNT
TWO<o:p></o:p>STATEMENT
OF OFFENCE<o:p></o:p>UNLAWFUL
ENTRY:- Contrary to section 152 of Act 29/60<o:p></o:p>PARTICULARS
OF OFFENCE<o:p></o:p>BUHARI MUSAH: Aged 23; Carpenter:- On the 10th
day of January, 2016, at Namolo/Navrongo in the Upper East Region and within
the jurisdiction&nbsp; of this court, you
unlawfully entered a store room belonging to Ghana Education Service (G.E.S)
with intent to commit crime to wit: stealing.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>COUNT
THREE<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;STATEMNT OF OFFENCE<o:p></o:p>STEALING:- Contrary to section 124 (1) of the
Criminal Code 1960 of Act 29/60 as amended by paragraph 4 of NLCD 398 of 1969.<o:p></o:p>PARTICULARS
OF OFFENCE<o:p></o:p>BUHARI MUSAH: Aged 23; Carpenter:-&nbsp; On the 10th day of January, 2016
at Namolo/Navrongo in the Upper East Region and within the jurisdiction of this
court, you stole two (2) deep freezers value GHø6,000.00, the property of Ghana
Education Service (G.E.S)<o:p></o:p>He
pleaded not guilty to all the charges, but at the end of the trial, the lower
judge held that prosecution had succeeded in proving the charges against him
and he was thus convicted on all the three counts and sentenced to various
fines to run concurrently.&nbsp; The highest
was on count three where he was fined seventy five penalty units, in default to
serve a term of two years in prison.&nbsp; He
was also ordered to pay an amount of GH¢7,500.00
to the complainant to offset the cost of the stolen fridges and for replacement
of the damaged lock as in count one. <o:p></o:p>&nbsp;Normally, it was within the discretion of the
court to make such an order of compensation, though it is not a rule that in
all criminal trials, compensation orders are a matter of natural sequence.&nbsp; The propensity of the Navrongo District Court
to regularly make such orders has come to my attention and the presiding
magistrate in particular, and all magistrate in the Upper East Region, have
been advised to exercise caution in the exercise of their discretion in that
respect, having regard to the fact that a further order is usually made for any
monies paid by convicts to be used, first of all, to satisfy the payment of the
compensation, as if it is the duty of the court to enforce the payment of
compensation ordered to be paid to a complainant. Such an order, in essence,
becomes a civil matter in character and the court should not go out of its way
to enforce its payment, particularly, when the intervention of the court can
cause some hardship and suffering to an accused person.&nbsp; &nbsp;<o:p></o:p>Touching
on the matter of the compensation, not unexpectedly, the trial court ordered
that “any money paid by the accused person must first be used to offset the
restitution order made in favour of the complainants.”&nbsp; In the event that the accused is unable to
raise sufficient funds to pay both compensation and the fine of seventy-five
penalty units, or GHø900.00, imposed on him, any money paid by him will be used
to satisfy part, or all of the compensation whilst he continues to languish in
prison, being unnecessarily punished because of the wrongful application of law
by</main>