JUDGMENT OF ANTERKYI J.
The appellant was convicted on charges of (1) extortion, contrary to section 239 (1) of the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29), and(2) obstructing a public officer, contrary to section 205 (a.) of the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29).
According to the story of the prosecution, the first prosecution witness (Maria Lagos), a petty trader living at Accra, was selling king size cigarettes "at the Beach Avenue and Knutsford" at about 10.30 a.m. on 1 June 1965 when the accused, an escort police constable, came and held her by the hand and challenged her to the effect that the cigarettes she was selling were contraband goods. When she denied them to be so, and the accused had put her under arrest, she started begging him. She followed him into a store, in which there was the fourth prosecution witness. The accused eventually made a demand from her for an amount of £G5 to enable him to drop the matter. As the first prosecution witness had no money on her, she went out and sought aid from the second prosecution witness who could only give her one pound in two ten-shilling currency notes.
The first prosecution witness brought these notes to the accused and he received them, wrapping them with a paper. While the first prosecution witness and the accused were leaving the spot, the third prosecution witness, Haman Daramani, a detective sergeant, who had observed the proceedings, called the accused and told him to surrender the money he had in his left hand. The accused looked at the sergeant and took to his heels, but the sergeant, the third prosecution witness, succeeded in arresting him a few yards away. During a struggle which ensued the accused threw into a gutter the currency notes wrapped with the paper. The fifth prosecution witness (Tairu Zabrama) who happened to be at the spot, fetched the money from the gutter at the request of the third prosecution witness, and, as he [p.69] was handing the wrapped notes to the sergeant, the accused grabbed them, put the notes into his mouth and chewed and swallowed them, and dropped the wrapper. The accused and the prosecution witnesses were taken to the police station where he was subsequently charged with the above offences and brought before the court on 18 June 1965. The accused first appeared before the court on 18 June 1965. When he pleaded not guilty to each of the charges he was remanded in custody, the case being adjourned to 25 June 1965. On 25 June 1965, according to the record, the same magist
