THE REPUBLIC vs . YAW DANQUAH & 3 OTHERS [2019]DLCA6934

Date	2019-07-30
Suit No.	CRIMINAL APPEAL SUIT NO: H2/05/19
Citation No.	[2019]DLCA6934

M. OWUSU JA (PRESIDING)

S. DZAMEFE JA

M. WELBOURN JA

ANGELA OBOSHIE ABA SENIOR STATE ATTORNEY WITH HER VIVIAN NTI

BOADU ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY FOR RESPONDENT.

ERIC OWUSU SAE FOR THE APPELLANT PRESENT

[2019]DLCA6934
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>(RESPONDENT)<o:p></o:p>vs .<o:p></o:p>YAW DANQUAH &amp; 3 OTHERS<o:p></o:p>(APPELLANTS)<o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL, KUMASI]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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CRIMINAL APPEAL SUIT NO: H2/05/19&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;DATE: 30TH JULY, 2019<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>ANGELA OBOSHIE ABA, SENIOR STATE ATTORNEY
WITH HER VIVIAN NTI BOADU, ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY FOR RESPONDENT.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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ERIC OWUSU SAE FOR THE
APPELLANT PRESENT.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM: <o:p></o:p>M. OWUSU JA (PRESIDING),S.
DZAMEFE JA, M. WELBOURN JA<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" align="center" style="text-align:center;border:none;
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</div>DZAMEFE,
JA:<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The appellant,
Agyenim Boateng was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit crime
contrary to Section 23(1) and 46 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, (Act 29)
and murder, contrary to Section 46 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>FACTS<o:p></o:p>The deceased in
this case, Kofi Yeboah who was then 53 years was a farmer and an akpeteshie
distiller living in a cottage on his farm at a village called “Mewurenfiriwo”
in the Dormaa Ahenkro Municipality.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The 1st
accused Yaw Danquah was the labourer for the deceased and was staying in the
cottage of the deceased.&nbsp; On the 8th
of June 2013 the deceased’s wife, one Afia Peprah came to the cottage from
Dormaa Ahenkro to assist her husband work on the farm that day.&nbsp; When she got to the cottage, she could not
find her deceased husband and labourer (A1) and realized that the compound also
looked deserted as if people have not stayed there for some days.&nbsp; She went round looking for the husband and 1staccused
and asked around from the other cottages, but she was told that for about two
days they had not set eyes on the deceased, but seen 1st accused on
the 5th and 6th of June 2013 using the deceased’s new
motor bike. The wife reported the incident to the deceased’s brother and upon
their search they came across the 1st accused.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The 1st
accused told them the deceased had travelled to Camp 15, Sefwi area in the
Western Region, with a certain man to buy some palm trees and claimed the
deceased went with his motor bike.&nbsp; They
became suspicious of the 1st accused, so they forced and took him to
the police station and lodged a complaint against him of the disappearance of
the deceased.&nbsp; A search was conducted on
the 1st accused in his room in the cottage, and the ignition key of
the motor bike was found in a bag in his room.&nbsp;
He confessed that the motor bike was with him and someone he owed money
saw him using it and seized it. The police became more suspicious and started
interrogating him about the whereabouts of the deceased.&nbsp; My Lord, the 1st accused in his
statement to the police told the police that it was the 4th accused
and two (2) others he does not know who came to their cottage in the evening in
a taxi, bundled the deceased and carried him away in the taxi to an unknown
place and have not seen the deceased ever since.&nbsp; Based on this information the 4th
accused was arrested.&nbsp; He denied
knowledge of what was said about him.&nbsp; A
search party was organized to look for the deceased.&nbsp; A search party found a disturbed area about
15meters away from the deceased’s cottage and suspected it to be a dug grave.&nbsp; The 1st accused was asked about
this and then he confessed that the 4th accused promised to give him
an amount of Gh¢5,000.00 to kill the deceased and gave him an initial deposit
of Gh¢2,000.00 and then A2 and A3 assisted him in killing the deceased in his
room and he carried and buried him at that disturbed area.&nbsp; On the 11th June 2013, he led the
police to that dug grave which was then covered with dried leaves.&nbsp; On 12th June 2013, based on
examination, the body was exhumed and was identified as the body of the
deceased and a postmortem examination was carried out on the body at the
examination site, the cause of death being severe head injury and blunt force
trauma to the head.&nbsp; The 1st
accused in a further statement to the police claimed that it was A2 and A3 who
advised him to kill the deceased when he had conversation with them and told
them that his master had a lot of money in his room and they assisted him in
killing the deceased to take the money and share amount themselves; and that
they killed the deceased by hitting his dead with a pestle and when he was
found dead tied his head with his bed sheet and went and buried him in that dug
grave.&nbsp; Based on these substantial
evidence and statements of the 1st accused person the other accused
were arrested, and studying of the docket of the police by the Attorney
General’s Department, the accused have been charged with the various offences
for which they are standing trial.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>At the committal
stage, before the District Court at Wamfie, Brong Ahafo Region on the 10th
on February 2015, all the accused persons reserved their comments for the trial
at the High Court.&nbsp; The 1st
and 4th accused persons told the committal court they intend
pleading the defence of alibi.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Thereafter the
District Court co</main>