Appeal Court.17 October,
1936.
Appeal from High Court.
Murder-Insufficient
proof that death was caused or
accelerated by act of accused.
Held: Appeal allowed.
Appellant in person. Ivor
Brace for Crown.
The following judgment was
delivered: KINGDON, c.].,
NIGERIA.
In this case there is no doubt
that the appellant seriously
maltreated a very old woman and
that she died shortly
afterwards. H is natural to
suggest that the maltreatment
caused or at any rate
accelerated the woman's death.
But mere likelihood is not
sufficient to establish the
crime. It must be proved that
the death was caused or at any
rate that death was accelerated
by the accused's deeds. There is
no medical evidence to support
the prosecution case, and there
is nothing in the maltreatment
of such a nature as to be
necessarily dangerous to life
save by causing shock to an aged
person. On the whole we are
satisfied that the cause of
death was not sufficiently
proved and that for this reason
the conviction cannot be upheld.
Apart from this a considerable
amount of inadmissible hearsay
evidence was wrongly admitted at
the trial, but this would not of
itself cause the Court to quash
the conviction if there was
sufficient other evidence to
justify it. The conviction is
quashed and it is directed that
a judgment and verdict of
acquittal be entered .
