CORAM
OBASEKI, JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
BRETT, JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
PARTIES
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, WESTERN REGION
APPELLANTS
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, WESTERN REGION
RESPONDENTS
AREA(S) OF LAW
ASSAULT- CRIMINAL LAW
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
HELD
The court held that the respondent was guilty of assaulting a police officer in the course of duty
ISSUES
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.
RATIONES DECIDENDI
WHETHER AN ASSAULT ON A POLICE OFFICER IS JUSTIFIED WHEN HE ENTERS A RESIDENCE WITHOUT WARRANT.
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.
WHETHER AN ASSAULT ON A POLICE OFFICER IS JUSTIFIED WHEN HE ENTERS A RESIDENCE WITHOUT WARRANT.
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.
CASES CITED
R. v. Flight Lieutenant Austin Robert Quinn 10 W.A.C.A. 243
Davis Lisle 19362 K.B. 434.
STATUTES REFERRED TO
None