Rex V. Isaac Pennington Blake (1942)

LawGlobal Hub Judgment Report – West African Court of Appeal

Criminal law—Wounding contrary to section 338 (1) of Criminal-Code—Unprovoked assault—Penknife used in self defence.

Facts

A Government Medical Officer, believing that the appellant was a person who practised illicit injections, stopped him on the road, and, after asking some questions, attempted to take possession of a bag ^–in the appellant’s hands. The appellant resisted this attempt, and in the sculti.• which ensued the appellant swung round and slashed the doctor across the chest with an ordinary pen knife, cutting the doctor’s shirt and slightly wounding him.

Held

Use of the knife, in the circumstances, was the use of -forct^, which was not reasonably necessary to make effectual. defence against Vic assault.

Appeal dismissed.