Joseph Adu V. The Queen (1954)

LawGlobal Hub Judgment Report – West Africa Court of Appeal

Criminal Law—Homicide—Unlawful arrest by deceased—Excessive force in resisting—Manslaughter—Criminal Code, section 317.

Facts

Section 317 of the Code provides that ” A person who unlawfully kills another in such circumstances as not to constitute murder is guilty of manslaughter Appellant, a peaceful pedestrian, did not answer when challenged by selfconstituted night-guards and was detained; he broke away from deceased and was pursued by him and another, whom appellant kept at bay with his dagger; he got to his house, the door of which was opened by his wife hearing his cry that ” there is danger or war “, but he followed deceased past it and down the lane, and deceased was found stabbed.

It would seem that he was stabbed in the course of a struggle in which the deceased was having the better of it. The trial Judge divided the events into stages and regarded the appellant as the aggressor at the final stage and convicted him of murder. On appeal:—

Held

The facts were continuous: from the outset the deceased and the Other night-guards had no authority to arrest the appellant; when he broke away, they pursued him; and when he met the deceased near his house, there was a struggle, which indicated that the deceased had not retired from the pursuit.

The appellant had no duty to establish what happened at the struggle, but his cry showed he was in a state of confusion and irritation; he was entitled to use reasonable force in defending his liberty, but he overstepped the bounds in killing the deceased and was therefore guilty of manslaughter under section 317 of the Criminal Code.

Verdict of manslaughter substituted.