Appeal against sentence of
High Court.
Appeal ageist sentence of
imprisonment for
manslaughter
Held: Appeal allowed as
accused did not deliberately
set out to break the law or
harm a fellow being. Fine
substituted.
There is no need to set out
the facts.
C. W. Reece
for Crown.
Sir William Geary (A.
Alakija, Wells-Palmer
and E. A.
Akerele
with him) for Appellant.
The following joint judgment
was delivered:-
KINGDON, C.J., NIGERIA,
PETRIDES, C.J., GOLD COAST,
AND GRAHAM PAUL, C J, SIERRA
LEONE.
The appellant was convicted
in the High Court of the
Manslaughter of a child
named Kalu Ibe in
circumstances more fully
described in the judgment of
this Court upon his appeal
against conviction. He was
sentenced to three years
imprisonment with hard
labour for that offence. At
the same trial he was
convicted upon the same
facts, of an offenee
contrary to section 343 (1)
(I) of the Criminal Code and
sentenced to a fine of £100
or twelve months
imprisonment with hard
labour, the sentences to be
concurrent.
In view of the provisions of
section 16 of the Criminal
Code the Court is of opinion
that the sentence passed
upon the third count after
sentence had been passed
upon the first count cannot
be upheld, and the sentence
passed upon the third count
is accordingly quashed. As
to the sentence upon the
first count, having regard
to all the circumstances of
this case, more particularly
to the faet that this is not
a case where a man has set
out deliberately to break
the law or harm a fellow
being, and to the case for
the prosecution, as
submitted to this Court,
that there was only one act
of criminal negligence by
the appellant, namely gross
carelessness in connecting
too Atrong a mixture of the
drug he used, this Court has
come to the conclusion that
it is not necessary to Bend
the appellant to prison
without giving him the
option of paying a heavy
fine.
The appeal is therefore
allowed, the sentence passed
at the trial upon the first
count is quashed, and in
substitution therefor the
appellant is sentenced to a
fine of £;500, or, in
default of payment, to
imprisonment with hard
labour for twelve months.
ORDER
Appellant is to be allowed
one month to pay the fine.
During that period he may'
be admitted to bail upon
entering into a Bond for
£1,000 with two Sureties of
£500 each approved by the
Registrar of the Court.
pg 63