Rex V. Dosumu Fagbayi (1938)

LawGlobal Hub Judgment Report – West African Court of Appeal

Conviction following inadequate notice of trial.

Held. Appeal allowed.

There is no need to set out the facts.Appeal

from

A. Soetan for Appellant.

conviction

C. N. S. Pollard for Crown.by High

The following joint judgment was delivered :—Court.

KINGDON, C.J., NIGERIA, PETRIDES, C.J., GOLD COAST AND WEBB, C.J., SIERRA LEONE.

In this case the appellant was brought before the Judge of the High Court, in the Ibadan Division, for summary trial at very short notice when the appellant had already been informed that the preliminary investigation before the Magistrate was adjourned till a later date. As a result the appellant’s witnesses were not available and the same applies even to some of the prosecutiOn witnesses.

We are of opinion that as a result the appellant did not get a fair trial. There has been disclosed, in the words of Lord Watson in in re Dillet (12 App. Cases 459), ” a disregard of the •’ form of legal process by which substantial and grave injustice ” has been done.”

The appeal is accordingly allowed, the conviction and sentence are quashed and it is ordered that a judgment and verdict of acquittal be entered.

The appellant is discharged.