Rex V. George Kitoye Roberts (1936)
LawGlobal Hub Judgment Report – West African Court of Appeal
Theft—Three convictions upon charges substantially the same.
Held : One conviction to stand, the remainder quashed. Sentence reduced.
Sentences
for Theft byThe facts of the case are sufficiently set out in the judgment.
the Supreme
Court of the
Gambia.C. D. H. During for the Appellant.
Benka Coker for the Crown.
The following judgment was delivered :KINGDON, C.J., NIGERIA.
In this case the appellant has appealed against his conviction and has been granted leave by this Court to appeal out of time against his sentence.
The appellant was convicted upon three charges of theft and sentenced to fifteen months’ I.H.L. on each count, the sentences to run concurrently. In addition he was sentenced under the first count to pay £15 14s. compensation to Mrs. Eliza Andrews. It has been argued before us that each charge is merely a variation of the same offence and the Court should therefore have treated the charges. as alternative charges, and therefore it was not competent for the Court to find the appellant guilty on each of the several charges ; and that as the Court had wrongly treated each charge as a separate charge the appellant was entitled to be acquitted on all three.
This Court agrees that the charges were alternative charges, but does not agree that the appellant is entitled to acquittal on all three.
The convictions on the second and third charges are therefore quashed, but the conviction on the first is affirmed, this Court being of opinion that there is no substance in any of the other grounds urged against the conviction.
So far as the sentence is concerned this Court is of opinion that there are two factors in the appellant’s favour to be considered ; firstly, that since the proceedings were started he has made restitution, and secondly, that the learned Judge in sentencing the appellant considered that three offences had been committed whereas in reality only one had been committed. Moreover it is clear that,
whilst the present legal adviser was acting as Judge, he was prepared Rex to let the appellant go entirely free from criminal proceedings, urge provided that restitution were made. This Court therefore is of Kitoye
opinion that the sentence inflicted was too severe and accordingly Roberts. reduces the fifteen months’ hard labour imposed to nine months’ hard Kingdon, labour to run from the date of conviction.
The remainder of the c. j. sentence imposed on count one to stand good.
