Kweku Mensah & Others V. The King (1951)

LawGlobal Hub Judgment Report – West African Court of Appeal

Necessity for particulars of Misdirection—Interpretation of section 324 of the
Criminal Code (Cap. 9) considered—Section includes attacks with armed force on any persons or class of persons.

Facts

The grounds of appeal included allegations of misdirection, without stating whether such misdirection was of law or of fact, and no particulars were given of the nature of the misdirection.

In Rex v. Appiah Dankwa & Others (1) section 324 of the Criminal Code (Cap. 9) was interpreted to include any armed attack on the police. The question now arose whether section 324 also covered a tribal riot, where there was no attack on the police.

Held

Where misdirection is complained of, it must be stated whether such misdirection is of law or of fact, and its nature must also be set out.

Section 324 is not to be interpreted as restricted to attacks upon the servants of the central Government, but applies also to any attack with armed force on any persons or class of persons.

Appeal dismissed.