ALHAJI DABILA WATARA @ MACHO v. THE REPUBLIC
2013
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- AYEBI, J.A. (PRESIDING)
- IRENE DANQUAH, J.A.
- TANKO AMADU, J.A
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Evidence Law
2013
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The appellant and five others were convicted in 2003 for conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery, leading to sentences of life imprisonment. The appellant's appeal questioned the admissibility of his confession, which was claimed to be involuntary and obtained without following legal procedures. The court found that the confession statement was erroneously admitted, leading to a substantial miscarriage of justice. The appeal was allowed, the conviction was set aside, and the appellant was acquitted and discharged.
AYEBI J.A.
In 2003, the appellant as the first accused and five others were tried at the Criminal Assizes held in Sunyani on two counts, namely conspiracy to commit crime, wit robbery contrary to sections 23(1) and 149 of the Criminal Code 1960 (Act 29) as amended and robbery contrary to s.149 of Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29) as amended. The third accused Bello Pierre Clavere, an Ivorian died not long after the trial started. He could not therefore give evidence at the trial. The sixth accused, Yahaya Mahama who was at large was tried in absentia. Those present pleaded not guilty on each count.
At the end of the trial, the jury found all the accused guilty of each of the offences charged. The trial judge accordingly convicted each of them on each of the two counts on 7th August 2003. He sentenced each of the accused to life imprisonment on each count. Both sentences to run concurrently.
In this appeal, appellant herein challenged the legality of the admissibility of his confession statement that led to his conviction and sentence on the following grounds:-
(i) the verdict is against the weight of evidence
(ii) the trial judge erred by admitting a confession statement of the appellant
(iii) the sentence was harsh and excessive.
The general facts of the case are that, the appellant is a native Sampa. Somewhere on 18/08/2001, he went to Kumasi and met the other accused persons. There they planned to rob the Goil Filling Station at Sampa. Late on 20/08/2001 the 5th accused drove the appellant and 2nd to 4th accused in his Opel Vectra taxi-cab to Sampa. In the early hours of 21/08/2001, armed with pistols, crow and pinch bars, accused attacked the Goil Filling Station and succeeded in robbing the station of ¢59,500,000.00 (GH¢5,950.00), various sums of CFA Francs and dollars amidst sporadic shooting. Accused took off in the taxi-cab.
When word went round about the robbery, the accused were given a hot chase by the young men who were mobilized. Unfortunately for the accused, the taxi-cab was involved in an accident at Hani village on the Sampa-Seikwa Road. They managed to escape into the nearby bush and shared their booty. But then through the collective efforts of the police, those chasing them and the inhabitants of Hani village, all the accused except the 6th were arrested at various locations and times. Out of the amount stolen, ¢44,771,000.00 (GH¢4,477.00), 90,000 CFA Francs and US$200.00 were retrieved from them.
In the case of the first accused, t