|
Citation
|
Judgment date
|
| April 1976 |
|
|
Accused who killed his father found not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered detained in a mental institution.
Criminal law – Insanity defence – Whether accused was legally insane when he committed the killing; Psychiatric evidence and eyewitness testimony as basis for finding of insanity; Special finding under section 168(1) Criminal Procedure Code and subsequent disposition to Minister of Justice; Detention of accused as a criminal lunatic.
|
3 April 1976 |
| January 1976 |
|
|
Discovery of a long‑term partner in bed with another amounted to provocation, reducing murder to manslaughter; identification evidence proved decisive.
Criminal law – Identification evidence – reliability of identification by victim and supporting eyewitnesses. Criminal law – Alibi – assessment of credibility and afterthoughts. Family law – Cohabitation – presumption of marriage under s.160 Law of Marriage Act based on long cohabitation. Criminal law – Provocation – discovery of long‑term partner in bed with another; reduction of murder to manslaughter. Criminal procedure – s.181(2) CPC – court's power to convict of lesser offence. Sentencing – mitigating factors weighed against brutal nature of assault (multiple panga wounds).
|
1 January 1976 |
|
Child identification corroborated by forensic and circumstantial evidence sufficed to convict the respondents of murder.
Criminal law – Murder; identification evidence by child witnesses; competence and corroboration of tender‑age witnesses; circumstantial evidence; forensic blood‑group evidence (bedsheet) as corroboration; assessment of alibi defences.
|
1 January 1976 |
| June 1974 |
|
|
Accused who killed his daughter while suffering acute psychosis found legally insane and not guilty by reason of insanity.
Criminal law – Murder – Insanity and insane delusion – Psychiatric evidence – Special finding under s.163(1) Criminal Procedure Code – Detention under s.168(2)(a) – R v Gerevazi applied.
|
11 June 1974 |
|
Provocation reduced a murder charge to manslaughter; voluntary confessions and evidence warranted conviction and three‑year sentences.
Criminal law – murder v. manslaughter – grave and sudden provocation reducing murder to manslaughter; voluntary extra‑judicial confessions admissible and probative; intoxication and self‑defence excluded; sentencing mitigation for remand custody and first offenders.
|
10 June 1974 |
| November 1973 |
|
|
Circumstantial and eyewitness evidence (despite inconclusive post‑mortem) supported murder convictions and death sentences for both accused.
Criminal law – murder – identification of remains by last-seen evidence and matching clothing – sufficiency of circumstantial evidence when post‑mortem is inconclusive. Evidence – bystander who fails to intervene is not necessarily an accomplice; passive presence does not equal participation. Criminal responsibility – common intention and joint unlawful acts can render co‑participants guilty of murder. Defence – duress rarely available and does not excuse murder; extra‑judicial statements evaluated for weight and admissibility.
|
23 November 1973 |
| July 1973 |
|
|
Accused stabbed and killed his wife; court considered an insanity defence but the provided text does not state the final ruling.
Criminal law – Murder – Uncontested facts establish accused stabbed and killed spouse – Defence of insanity raised and supported by evidence of prior dizziness, incoherent speech and police observation, but final determination not shown.
|
11 July 1973 |
| June 1973 |
|
|
Accused suffering schizophrenia held legally insane at the killing; not guilty of murder and committed to a psychiatric institution.
Criminal law – Insanity/mental disorder – Schizophrenia causing legal insanity at time of offence – Not guilty of murder by reason of insanity; Psychiatric evidence and contemporaneous conduct as basis for finding unsoundness of mind; Procedure – submission of record to Minister for Justice and committal to mental institution.
|
30 June 1973 |
| April 1973 |
|
|
Eyewitness and autopsy evidence proved murder; accessory liability and discovery-statement admissibility upheld; age exam led to mandatory death sentences.
Criminal law – murder – medical (autopsy) evidence establishing homicidal cause of death – admissibility of statement leading to discovery – accessory liability/particeps criminis for procuring an attack – age determination for sentencing and imposition of mandatory death penalty.
|
9 April 1973 |
|
The accused's prolonged, brutal assault was deliberate; provocation rejected and he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
Criminal law – Murder – Sustained unarmed assault and insertion of a wooden spike causing fatal internal injuries – foreseen death or grievous harm. Defence – Provocation/sudden passion – rejected where assault was prolonged and deliberate. Sentence – Mandatory death penalty for murder.
|
7 April 1973 |
| February 1973 |
|
|
Psychiatric evidence absolved the accused of murder by reason of insanity; a separate parental omission led to manslaughter conviction under s.203(d).
Criminal responsibility – insanity – psychiatric evidence – special finding under s.168(1) Criminal Procedure Code; detention as criminal lunatic under s.168(2)(a). Homicide – manslaughter by negligence – duty of care of parent to young child; negligence hastening death of person suffering disease – application of s.203(d) Penal Code. Evidentiary note – sections 206 and 207 (duty to provide necessaries) inapplicable where failure to provide necessaries not shown to have affected health or life.
|
12 February 1973 |
| November 1972 |
|
|
Accidental fatal blow aimed at a third party constituted manslaughter; plea to manslaughter was accepted.
Criminal law – Homicide – Distinction between murder and manslaughter – Unintentional killing where an assault aimed at a third party accidentally fatally injures another. Plea procedure – Acceptance of plea to a lesser offence (manslaughter) by the prosecution and recording by the court.
|
25 November 1972 |
|
Circumstantial evidence insufficient for murder convictions of two accused; first accused convicted as accessory after the fact and sentenced to three years.
Criminal law – Murder charged on circumstantial evidence – High threshold: circumstantial facts must exclude reasonable alternative hypotheses; unsafe night identification – Accessory after the fact – Court may convict of lesser offence under s.181(2) Criminal Procedure Code when murder not proved.
|
24 November 1972 |
| September 1972 |
|
|
Dying declaration and circumstantial evidence proved causation but absence of malice reduced conviction to manslaughter, four years' jail.
Criminal law — murder v. manslaughter; dying declaration and corroboration; circumstantial evidence; identity and causation; absence of malice aforethought; sentence.
|
6 September 1972 |
|
Manslaughter not proven for lack of causal certainty; conviction entered for unlawful wounding for unlicensed gum operation, eight months imprisonment.
Criminal law – Manslaughter – causation – requirement to prove the accused’s act caused the fatal infection beyond reasonable doubt. Unlawful medical/dental practice – performing surgical procedures without licence – constitutes unlawful wounding. Lesser cognate offences – conviction for unlawful wounding appropriate where causation for death not established. Sentencing – mitigation for first offender and prolonged custody may warrant leniency.
|
2 September 1972 |
| June 1972 |
|
|
Retracted confession corroborated by physical and circumstantial evidence led to conviction for manslaughter, not murder.
Criminal law – admissibility of extra‑judicial confession – retracted confession requires independent corroboration; Homicide – arrow causing perforation of heart; Provocation – suspicion of spouse's adultery may amount to grave and sudden provocation depending on facts; Conviction for manslaughter on corroborated confession and circumstantial evidence.
|
12 June 1972 |
| March 1972 |
|
|
Circumstantial evidence and prior domestic violence admitted; accused convicted of manslaughter, not murder, for lack of proven malice.
Criminal law – Circumstantial evidence – sufficiency to exclude reasonable hypotheses of innocence – conviction on circumstantial proof. Evidence – Admissibility of previous conduct – prior assaults on the deceased admissible under Evidence Act when relevant to explain cause and state of affairs. Witness credibility – delayed reporting justified by fear – delay does not automatically discredit testimony. Mens rea – distinction between murder (malice aforethought) and manslaughter – absence of proof of deliberation leads to conviction for manslaughter.
|
25 March 1972 |