1999
SUPREME COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Supreme Court of Ghana, per Bamford-Addo J.S.C. (presiding), unanimously dismissed Standard Chartered Bank d5s second appeal arising from a dispute over a stolen gear box taken from the transport owner d5s Willowbrook Bus No. AA 6835 and fitted into the Bank d5s Willowbrook Bus No. GZ 8643 at Robert Anum Motors. Despite police notices in 1983 and 1985, the Bank continued using the bus, advertised it for sale, and sold it with the gear box to a third party. The High Court had erroneously found detinue; the Court of Appeal substituted conversion and recalculated damages. The Supreme Court affirmed conversion, explaining that demand is not essential to conversion and that wrongful dealing and intent to deprive were proven. Hayfron-Benjamin J.S.C. recalibrated damages to a single sum of a210 million (value plus consequential loss), taking judicial notice of economic conditions and limiting consequential loss to two years. The Court held interest is awardable to judgment at the prevailing bank rate under L.I. 1295 and rejected the Bank d5s estoppel argument.
MRS. JOYCE BAMFORD-ADDO, J.S.C.:
In this case the Plaintiff/ Respondent/ Respondent (hereinafter referred to as Plaintiff) was a transport owner who owned Willow-brook Bus No. AA 6835 which he used for his transport business. The 2nd Defendant/Appellant/Appellant was a Bank carrying on business in Ghana as Bankers (hereinafter referred to as 2nd Defendant) also owned a Willow-brook Bus No. GZ 8643 which was used to transport workers of the Bank to and from work. On 24th November 1982 the Plaintiff sent his said Bus to 1st Defendants workshop called Robert Anum Motors for repairs. The 2nd Defendant Bank also had trouble with the gear box of its Bus and sent it to the same workshop for repairs. It transpired that the 1st Defendant surreptitiously transferred the Plaintiff's gear box from vehicle No. AA 6835 and fixed it onto 2nd Defendant's vehicle No. GZ 8643 and abandoned Plaintiff's vehicle in his workshop. When Plaintiff discovered this theft of his gear box he reported it to Police who arrested 1st Defendant and charged him with stealing the gear box. He was subsequently tried and convicted at the Circuit Court and sentenced accordingly.
Even though Plaintiff reported the case to police in 1982 no action was taken by them until 20th June 1983 when they wrote to 2nd Defendant telling them of the theft of the gear box fixed in their vehicle and asking them to release their bus for investigation. Police sent a reminder to this letter on 15th August 1983 again asking for the release of 2nd Defendants, vehicle for investigation. The latter replied by letter dated 18th August 1983 to say that the bus was in a workshop for repairs and that it would be released to police as soon as it was returned to them from the workshop. 2nd Defendant failed to send the vehicle to Police as promised, even though it was released to them from the workshop but continued to use the vehicle until it was involved in an accident on lst December 1982.
Then in March 1983 the 2nd Defendant advertised for sale certain vehicles in the Ghanaian Times of the 26th March 1983 including the Bus No. GZ 8643 in which the Plaintiffs gear box was allegedly fixed. Police then sent another reminder dated 28/3/1985 asking for the release of the said vehicles for investigations but this was once again ignored by Defendant who went ahead and sold the vehicle fixed with Plaintiff's gear box to another person.
On these facts Plaintiff commenced action against Defendants by a writ and statement of c