Rex V. Joshua Charles Bull (1943)
LawGlobal Hub Judgment Report – West African Court of Appeal
Criminal Law—Manslaughter—Negligence—Motor Vehicle.
Facts
Accused was driving a motor-vehicle along a straight dry road, sixteen
feet wide, bordered on the left by it grass verge four or five feet wide, then a drain about three feet wide, and then a line of trees two or three feet from the drain. There were a number of people on the road. Accused drove at a very great speed– and lost control of the vehicle, which left the road, crossed the grass verge, and ran along with its left hand wheels in the drain’ for 18 yards, when it struck deceased from behind and killed her. Twenty-eight yards further along, after strucking a tree and killing another woman, the vehicle left the drain and skidded to the right side of the road. Accused was found guilty of manslaughter as a result of criminal negligence.
Held
there was an abundance of evidence to justify the trial Judge’s conclusion.
Appeal dismissed.
