JAMES ADDEYFIO @ NII ARMAH, RASHID, TILAPIA, KWAMIVI v. THE REPUBLIC
2022
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- WELBOURNE J. A. (PRESIDING)
- B. MENSAH J.A.
- BAFFOUR J.A
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Evidence Law
2022
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
On 12 September 2008, six armed men invaded the home of Dr. Robert Darko Osei, binding occupants, shooting Lt. Col. Darko (rtd) in the thigh, and stealing cash, electronics, and jewelry. Earlier, co-participants Solomon Duodu, Eric Cobbinah, and Kingsley Amankwah were convicted and sentenced to 65 years each. The appellant, charged as James Addeyfio (aliases including “Tilapia”), was later arrested after sending to the complainant’s wife an identical love message from a number associated with a phone taken during the robbery; he was identified by Robert Owusu Darko at an identification parade. Tried in the High Court (Fast Track Division) before C. J. Honyenuga JA, he was convicted and sentenced to 65 years. On appeal, he challenged the charge sheet, missing records, cross-examination, sufficiency of evidence, and harshness of sentence. The Court of Appeal dismissed the conviction-related grounds but reduced the sentence to 30 years.
Baffour J.A:
On the 12th of September, 2008, at about 1:30 am the house of one Dr. Robert Darko Osei, a Research Fellow and a Lecturer came under serious siege from a gang of robbers numbering about six. They welded offensive implements such as guns, knives and other deadly weapons adapted for use to cause bodily harm and death. Two of these men were in masks and they announced themselves to the household as “armed robbers” who had stormed the house looking for properties they had not laboured for. The house had seven rooms and with sheer bravado the robbers searched all the seven rooms of the house and held the occupants hostage. The father of the complainant, one Lt. Col Darko (rtd) was shot in the right thigh and severely assaulted. By the use of such force with intent to overcome or subdue the resistance of the persons to the house, these men succeeded in taking away as booty an amount of Gh¢1,540.00, four mobile phones, a wallet, jewelry, two wedding rings, a wrist watch, a Compaq laptop computer, a pen drive among others.
Investigations led to the arrest of three of these men, namely, Solomon Duodo, Eric Cobbina and Kingsley Amankwah. It was the case of the Republic that these men mentioned the name of the Appellant as an accomplice. But appellant could not be arrested at the time by the Police. These men were tried and convicted by Asiedu J. (as he then was) and sentenced to sixty-five (65) years imprisonment each with hard labour. This Appellant having escaped by the skin of his teeth was not to be lucky for long. It is the case of the prosecution that the wife of the complainant received a love message that she had earlier received from her husband before her original phone was taken away from her by the robbers on the day of the robbery but this time the message was from an unfamiliar number. The wife of the complainant called the number that sent her the love message and during the conversation, the appellant, who it appeared sent the message proposed love to this woman. The wife of the complainant harbouring the notion that the exact love words received from the husband earlier in time and repeated by the appellant who sent the message to her was not coincidence but should be directly connected to the robbery as that phone was taken during the robbery and intending to lure appellant for his arrest, readily agreed to be the lover of this appellant and quickly arranged for a meeting by informing the police to lurk behind the scene. Upon sightin