CORAM

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OBASEKI, JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT

BRETT, JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT

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PARTIES

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COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, WESTERN REGION

APPELLANTS 

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COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, WESTERN REGION

RESPONDENTS 

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AREA(S) OF LAW

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ASSAULT- CRIMINAL LAW

 

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SUMMARY OF FACTS

Police officers entered the respondent’s house without warrant; they were assaulted while trying to prevent the respondent from concealing the content of a bag which the appellant asked his wife to remove upon sighting the officers

 

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HELD

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The court held that the respondent was guilty of assaulting a police officer in the course of duty

 

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ISSUES

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1. Whether knowledge of the fact that the man assaulted was in fact a police constable was an essential ingredient of the offence required to be proved by the prosecution, and secondly;

2. Whether the police constable was or was not at the time of the offence acting in the execution of his duty.

 

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RATIONES DECIDENDI

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WHETHER AN ASSAULT ON A POLICE OFFICER IS JUSTIFIED WHEN HE ENTERS A RESIDENCE WITHOUT WARRANT.

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when a police officer enters a mans house without a warrant and was not asked to leave and is subsequently assaulted when his suspicion is aroused while trying to perform his duty, the police officer cannot be regarded as a trespasser so as to absolve the aggressor of liability. Per Taylor F.J.

 

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WHETHER AN ASSAULT ON A POLICE OFFICER IS JUSTIFIED WHEN HE ENTERS A RESIDENCE WITHOUT WARRANT.

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When a police officer enters a man’s house without a warrant and was not asked to leave and is subsequently assaulted when his suspicion is aroused while trying to perform his duty, the police officer cannot be regarded as a trespasser so as to absolve the aggressor of liability.’ Per Taylor F.J.

 

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CASES CITED

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R. v. Flight Lieutenant Austin Robert Quinn 10 W.A.C.A. 243

Davis Lisle 19362 K.B. 434.

 

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STATUTES REFERRED TO

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None

 

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