THE REPUBLIC VS DAUDA SALISU
2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP ALHAJ JUSTICE ABDULLAH IDDRISU
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Evidence Law
2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Dauda Salisu was charged with robbery involving a taxicab, personal items, and money. The prosecution provided sufficient evidence through witnesses and exhibits, resulting in the conviction of the accused. The court highlighted principles such as the burden of proof, the need for proof beyond reasonable doubt, and the elements required to establish robbery. The accused's testimony was found inconsistent and unreliable. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after considering mitigating factors.
The accused person, Dauda Salisu, was charged with the offence of robbery contrary to section 149 of the Criminal Offences Act, Act 29 of 1960 as amended by the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2003, Act 646. The particulars of the offence are:
COUNT 1
Dauda Salisu, on or about the 8th day of September, 2012, at Sege Aveyi in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, threatened one Benjamin Otoo with a gun to overcome his resistance to the stealing of one Nissan Almera taxicab with registration number GW 6043-12, one Samsung mobile phone, and an unspecified amount of money.
FACTS OF THE CASE
The brief facts of the case are that the complainant, Benjamin Otoo, is a driver, whilst the accused person is a farmer. On the 8th day of September, 2012, the accused person chartered the complainant’s services as a taxi driver. The complainant drove a Nissan Almera taxi cab with registration number GW 6043-12. At some point during the journey to Sege, the accused person, at gunpoint, robbed the complainant of his taxi and some personal items, including an unspecified amount of money. The accused was charged with the offence and brought before the court.
DEFINITION OF ROBBERY
S. 150 OF ACT 29/60
“A person who steals a thing commits robbery:
a. If in, and for the purpose of stealing the thing, that person uses force or causes harm to any other person.
b. If that person uses a threat or criminal assault or harm to any other person, with intent to prevent or overcome the resistance of the other person to the stealing of the thing.”
ROBBERY (PUNISHMENT)
The Criminal Code (Amendment Act, 2003), Act 646 amended Section 149 of Act 29/60 by the substitution of the old section 149 with the following section 149 (1). “Whoever commits robbery is guilty of an offence and shall be liable, upon conviction on trial summarily or on indictment, to imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years; and where the offence is committed by the use of an offensive weapon or offensive missile, the offender shall upon conviction be liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than fifteen years.”
BURDEN OF PROOF
In his “Book Practice and Procedure in the Trial Courts and Tribunals of Ghana Second Edition 2011,” the learned and distinguished author; His Lordship Justice S. A. Brobbey (as he then was) said at paragraph 301 on page 139: “In criminal trials, the burden of proof in the sense of the burden of establishing the guilt of the accused is generally on the Prosecution and the failur