- Case summary
-
Criminal Appeal - Appellant convicted of murder by the High Court and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. - Appellant subsequently appealed against both conviction and sentence. - In his appeal, Appellant contends that there was no evidence linking him to the crime of murder as embodied in the killing of the deceased. - He contends fi1rther that the crown's case against him is further weakened by the fact that it had not been alleged in the charge sheet that in its alleged commission, he acted in furtherance of a common purpose -with anyone, particularly in this matter where a certain person was charged, tried, convicted and sentenced for having committed the same crime.
The crown argues that there was ample evidence connecting the accused to the murder of the deceased particularly because the evidence was that the cause of death was a result of multiple injuries inflicted on the deceased and there was direct evidence that Appellant had been seen punching and kicking the deceased simultaneously with the accused person convicted and sentenced of the murder of the deceased earlier. - In that sense it was contended that the earlier tried, convicted and sentenced accused had been so treated for his own independent role in the killing of the deceased, which did not absolve the Appellant from liability for his own role in the killing of the deceased