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19 judgments found.
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December 1993
Whether lack of clear proof of ownership/consent to sale creates reasonable doubt, defeating a criminal trespass conviction.
Criminal law — Criminal trespass — burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt
15 December 1993
November 1993
Appeal allowed: careless driving conviction quashed due to contradictory, insufficient and speculative evidence.
Civil procedure — Appeal — unsafe conviction where trial court admits irreconcilable evidence and draws speculative inferences (tyre removal)
Criminal law — Careless driving — sufficiency of evidence — conflicting driver accounts and absence of independent eyewitness evidence
Evidence — weight of sketch plans and scene measurements — contradictions between police sketch and court measurements render reliance unsafe
23 November 1993
Conviction for criminal trespass quashed where unlawful entry and intent were not proved and honest belief of ownership existed.
Criminal law
— Criminal trespass — Essential ingredients: unlawful entry, possession by another, and intent to commit an offence or to annoy
— sentencing
16 November 1993
Appeal against conviction after an unequivocal guilty plea is competent; five-year sentence affirmed as not excessive.
Criminal law — sentencing — Whether imposed custodial term excessive — five-year sentence held within court’s competence
Criminal procedure — Appeal against conviction after guilty plea — Competence of appeal
3 November 1993
October 1993
Chaotic substitutions to the charge sheet and procedural failures rendered the trial unfair; conviction quashed and retrial ordered.
Criminal procedure — multiple substituted charge‑sheets and additions of accused — denial of opportunity to cross‑examine — inadequate judicial analysis of identification and credibility
— conviction unsafe
— retrial ordered
19 October 1993
Convictions for public disturbance and abusive language affirmed; conditional discharge set aside and unlawful 12‑month term reduced, sentences ordered consecutively.
Criminal law
— Public order offences — Abusive language, brawling and threatening violence
— sentencing — Conditional discharge
— Sentencing limits — district court maximum sentence and statutory maximum for specific offence
13 October 1993
Conviction on a guilty plea for grievous harm quashed where the facts failed to describe injuries required by section 225.
Criminal law
— Medical evidence (PF.3) — PF.3/exhibit — Medical findings must be recorded in the court record to establish nature of injuries
— Plea of guilty — Adequacy of factual basis and clarity of plea — Necessity for facts disclosing each element of the offence (grievous harm)
Criminal procedure — Appeal — conviction quashed where evidence does not support charged offence — Proceedings quashed and retrial ordered
11 October 1993
A criminal trespass conviction cannot stand where ownership of the land is genuinely disputed and must be civilly determined.
Criminal law — Criminal trespass
— unresolved ownership undermines proof beyond reasonable doubt in a trespass prosecution
— Where ownership of land is disputed between parties, the issue of title must be determined in civil proceedings
6 October 1993
September 1993
Failure to identify the disputed land and inconsistent testimony justified dismissal of the plaintiff's title claim.
Civil procedure — Burden of proof — Proof of ownership — Plaintiff must establish locus and title to succeed in a declaration of ownership
Evidence — Witness credibility — Contradictory statements and inconsistent dates undermine claimant's case
Land law — title disputes — Requirement to identify disputed land and neighbours for proof of ownership
24 September 1993
Failure to annex the decree and judgment to the memorandum of appeal renders the appeal incompetent and liable to dismissal.
Civil procedure
— Appeal — mandatory requirement to accompany appeal with copy of the decree (O.XXXIX r.1 CPC) — Order 39 Rule 1 Civil Procedure Code
— adjournment — request by letter not permissible — Counsel must brief substitute advocate or party must appear to seek postponement
24 September 1993
May 1993
Duplicate arson count and theft conviction quashed; one arson conviction upheld on circumstantial evidence and threats.
Criminal law
— arson — single offence where parts of same building set ablaze — duplicative counts inadmissible
— Breaking and stealing — conviction unsafe where evidence does not exclude other perpetrators
— Circumstantial evidence — threats, disappearance and failure to call alibi witnesses may ground a proper inference of guilt
28 May 1993
An equivocal plea and a prosecutor's abbreviated facts omitting essential ingredients cannot sustain a conviction for armed robbery; retrial ordered.
Civil procedure — remedy
— Conviction and sentence quashed
— remand custody pending trial
— retrial ordered, preferably before a different magistrate
Criminal procedure — plea of guilty — Equivocal pleas (e.g. 'it is true') insufficient for serious offences such as armed robbery
21 May 1993
Non‑compliance with s.225(4) CPA’s 60‑day rule without required certificate renders the trial a nullity and warrants retrial.
Criminal procedure — statutory 60‑day disposal rule — non‑compliance renders trial nullity
— retrial ordered
— time served to be set off
7 May 1993
Reported
Criminal law — Criminal practice and procedure — Right of accused to defend himself — Accused jumps bail and absconds after close of prosecution case -Whether conviction and sentence passed in his absence was proper- Sections 226( 1) and (2) and 227
7 May 1993
Appeal dismissed where accused absconded after electing to give defence, estopping complaint of conviction in absentia.
Criminal law — Conviction in absentia — accused absconding/jumping bail — estoppel from complaining — mandatory minimum sentence
7 May 1993
March 1993
Whether circumstantial and forensic evidence proved the first accused guilty of murder, with the second accused acquitted.
Criminal law — Murder
— Post‑mortem evidence — Strangulation as evidence of homicidal death
— Sufficiency of circumstantial evidence — Whether suspicion and circumstantial facts prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt in a capital offence
Criminal procedure — Acquittal of co‑accused and conviction of accused — Judicial assessment where assessors return divergent opinions
23 March 1993
Reported
Criminal law — Criminal practice and procedure
— Charges — Duplex charge — Offence of breaking into a building with intent to commit an offence therein and offence of theft charged in one count — Charge is had for duplicity
— Charges- Charge of breaking into a building with intent to commit an offence but facts show breaking into a dwelling house — Charge defective: ss 294
Criminal law — Theft — Doctrine of recent possession
12 March 1993
Appellant's guilty plea supported conviction; two-year deterrent sentence upheld due to communal/religious tensions and confirmed.
Criminal law — Malicious damage to property — Plea of guilty and admitted facts
Criminal law — Sentence — assessment of excessiveness — deterrence and public order
— Confirmation of sentence
— religious tensions as aggravating factor
12 March 1993
January 1993
Whether possession/recovery of suspected stolen pipes at premises in accused’s presence proves receiving stolen property.
Criminal law — Receiving stolen property
— possession, ownership and sufficiency of prosecution evidence
— Whether recovery of stolen items from premises in accused’s presence establishes receiving under
1 January 1993