ABUBAKARI GERO v. THE REPUBLIC
2016
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- ADJEI, JA – PRESIDING
- MRS. SOWAH, JA
- MENSAH, JA
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Evidence Law
- Constitutional Law
2016
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Dennis Adjei JA, writing for the Ghana Court of Appeal, addressed the appeal of the third accused from a Kumasi High Court judgment that convicted three men of conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery after a premeditated roadblock near River Afram led to armed attacks on passengers in multiple vehicles and subsequent sharing of stolen property at Ebenezer Hotel in Yeji. Despite criticizing the High Courts failure to evaluate evidence and provide reasons, the Court of Appeal found no substantial miscarriage of justice and affirmed the convictions, noting the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. The appellant challenged his twenty-one-year concurrent sentence as harsh; the court emphasized statutory minimums and sentencing purposes but corrected the unlawful retrospective commencement. Applying Article 14(6), it re-sentenced to 17 years, commencing 23 April 2009, and dismissed the appeal subject to this modification.
ADJEI, J.A:
The Appellant herein was the 3rd Accused person in the suit tried by the High Court, Kumasi which all of the three (3) Accused persons were convicted for conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery contrary to Section 23 (1) and 149 of Act 29 as amended by Act 646 and Section 149 of Act 29 as amended by Act 646 respectively. The trial High Court judge sentenced each of the Accused persons to a term of twenty one (21) years on both Counts which were to run concurrently. Even though the accused persons were convicted and sentenced to a term of 21 years on 23rd April, 2009, the sentence was to take retrospective effect from 13th August, 2005, that is, the day that the accused persons were arrested by the police for having committed the offence of conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery.
The brief facts of the case as presented by the prosecution before the trial High Court were that on 13th August, 2005, a 207 Benz Bus with the registration number AS 8174 was being driven by one Kwasi Brenya towards Ejura. Just before River Afram and between Ejura and Yeji motorway, there were some logs in the middle of the road implanted by the accused persons to prevent vehicles from crossing the river. The said Kwasi Brenya, however, ran into the logs placed on the road by the accused persons and veered off the road into a ditch when it was raining. Immediately it went into the ditch, a group of people numbering about eight including the accused persons emerged from the bush. They were armed with guns and knives and used them to attack the passengers in the Benz Bus. They robbed the passengers various sums of monies and their mobile phones. Another three (3) vehicles were also entrapped by the accused persons and their accomplices by the logs they used to block the road. They robbed all the passengers on board in the other three (3) vehicles of their monies and mobile phones. The accused persons and their accomplices went to Ebenezer Hotel at Yeji to share the booty from the robbery. The police were informed by an informant and finally arrested the accused persons. The Police found on them some mobile phones which some of the victims identified as theirs. They further found wet currency notes packed in small quantities and that also implicated them to the crime because it was raining at the time they robbed the passengers of their properties.
The accused persons pleaded “Not Guilty” to both offences. Evidence was adduced and after the trial, all of them were c