Results.
21 judgments found.
|
|
|
| December 2023 |
|
|
Conviction for defilement confirmed; sentence increased to 25 years due to aggravating factors and evolving sentencing trends.
-
Criminal law — defilement — plea of guilty procedure and confirmation — sentencing principles and trends — limited mitigation from plea/first‑offender status — enhancement of sentence.
|
13 December 2023 |
| November 2023 |
|
|
Court upheld eight-year custodial sentence for arson, finding it not manifestly excessive despite appellants being first offenders.
-
Criminal law — Arson — Sentence — Whether sentence manifestly excessive — Aggravating factors: mob justice, planning/premeditation, total destruction of property — First offender status insufficient to warrant reduction — Offer to rebuild not a substantial mitigating factor.
|
20 November 2023 |
| October 2023 |
|
|
Mandatory injunction suspended pending criminal proceedings; contempt not established absent willful disobedience; FIA-good faith protection considered.
-
Contempt of court — willfulness requirement; freezing orders — verbal versus written and due process; priority of criminal proceedings; Financial Crimes Act s.26 immunity for good-faith compliance.
|
26 October 2023 |
| September 2023 |
|
|
The accused sentenced to five years for manslaughter balancing mitigating factors against the gravity of loss of life.
-
Criminal law — manslaughter — sentencing principles; mitigation: first offender, guilty plea, cooperation, time in custody; aggravation: loss of life, failure to render assistance, mature age; intruder/attempted sexual assault; proportionality of sentence.
|
23 September 2023 |
| May 2023 |
|
|
The applicants impermissibly relitigated an arbitration award; the court dismissed the action and upheld the award's finality.
-
Arbitration Act s17 — finality of awards; s24 — limited grounds to set aside (misconduct/improper procurement); doctrine of functus officio; abuse of process where parties relitigate arbitration award instead of applying to set it aside; partnership disputes and accounting claims.
|
12 May 2023 |
|
A rest house is a "human dwelling"; conviction amended to burglary and theft and concurrent sentences confirmed.
-
Criminal law — Burglary — Distinction between "dwelling-house" and "human dwelling" — Rest house qualifies as human dwelling — Proper conviction is burglary where forcible entry into a rest house occurs.
|
5 May 2023 |
| April 2023 |
|
|
Conviction for defilement quashed because prosecution failed to prove complainant was under sixteen.
-
Criminal law — Defilement — Proof of age — Complainant’s age must be proved by medical certificate, documentary evidence or testimony of a person with personal knowledge; hearsay evidence insufficient — Conviction quashed where age not established.
|
28 April 2023 |
|
Court enhanced defilement sentence from 8 to 21 years, balancing youth mitigation against serious aggravating factors.
-
Criminal law — Defilement — Sentencing principles — balancing offender’s youth and mitigation against aggravating factors (victim’s age and vulnerability, physical injury, intimidation) — maximum penalty life — review and enhancement of manifestly inadequate sentence.
|
26 April 2023 |
|
On review the court enhanced the sentence to 30 years' imprisonment with hard labour for defilement of a 12‑year‑old, given aggravating factors.
-
Criminal law — Sentencing — Defilement of a child under 16 — Statutory maximum life imprisonment — Aggravating factors (age and vulnerability of victim, abuse of trust, use of force) — Sentencing trends towards stiffer penalties — Enhancement on review.
|
26 April 2023 |
|
|
26 April 2023 |
|
Court enhanced sentence for defilement of an 8-year-old to 25 years, rejecting youthful-offender mitigation.
-
Criminal law — Defilement of a child — Sentence enhancement — Aggravating factors: victim asleep; breach of trust; child vulnerability — Maximum penalty life — Youth and first-offender mitigation rejected — Sentencing trend towards harsher terms to protect the girl child.
|
26 April 2023 |
|
Guilty plea and family hardship insufficient to avoid life imprisonment where murder is heinous and defendant has a prior similar conviction.
-
Criminal law — Murder — Sentencing — Life imprisonment — guilty plea and youth as mitigating factors — prior similar conviction as aggravating factor — maximum sentence reserved for worst offences — family hardship generally not exceptional mitigation.
|
20 April 2023 |
|
Court imposed 45-year imprisonment for defilement of a four-year-old due to severe aggravating factors and breach of trust.
-
Criminal law — Defilement — Sentencing principles — 14-year starting point for defilement offences — Aggravating factors: victim’s age (4 years), breach of trust (neighbour), physical injury (broken hymen) — First offender status — Proportionality and constitutional prohibition against cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment — Need for routine psychological assessment of child victims.
|
20 April 2023 |
|
High Court confirmed magistrate’s prison sentences for housebreaking and theft despite mitigation claim of unpaid labour.
-
Criminal law — housebreaking (s.309 Penal Code) and theft (s.278 Penal Code) — sentencing — mitigation: plea of guilty, youth, lack of prior record, recovery of property — rejection of unpaid-labour mitigation — confirmation of magistrate’s sentence.
|
13 April 2023 |
|
Confirmation court upheld magistrate's sentences for housebreaking and theft despite mitigation based on unpaid labour claim.
-
Criminal law — Housebreaking and theft — Sentencing — Mitigation: plea of guilty, youthfulness, lack of prior record, recovery of property — Rejection of unpaid-labour mitigation — Confirmation of magistrate's sentence.
|
13 April 2023 |
| March 2023 |
|
|
Bail denied where seriousness and strength of prosecution’s case and flight risk outweighed breached custody time limits.
-
Bail — pre-trial custody limits — interest of justice — aggravated trafficking and multiple murder charges — strength of State's case — risk of abscondment — public order considerations.
|
29 March 2023 |
|
Sentence for rape increased from nine to twenty years due to aggravating circumstance that the victim was asleep.
-
Criminal law — Rape — Sentencing — Aggravating factor: victim asleep — Sentencing guidelines: five-year starting point for uncomplicated rape, higher where aggravated — Consideration of HIV/AIDS risk — Mitigation: first offender.
|
8 March 2023 |
| February 2023 |
|
|
Permission for judicial review denied; Ombudsman properly found appointment void and had jurisdiction.
-
Administrative law — Judicial review permission; Ombudsman jurisdiction under section 123 Constitution and s.5 Ombudsman Act; unlawful appointment void ab initio; ratification cannot cure illegal recruitment; illegality defeats legitimate expectation to benefits.
|
23 February 2023 |
|
Application to adduce mother’s fresh evidence on victim’s age refused; victim’s own testimony on age held admissible.
-
Criminal procedure — s.356 Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code — admission of fresh evidence on appeal; test: not available at trial, relevant, credible, may affect result, and reasonable explanation for non-production. Evidence of age in defilement — complainant’s own testimony admissible; parents or medical examination preferred but not mandatory. Failure of trial counsel to call known witness undermines application for fresh evidence
|
1 February 2023 |
|
Court refused to hear bail application and directed applicant to apply to the judge seized of the ongoing trial.
-
Criminal procedure — Bail pending trial — Court refusal to entertain bail application where substantive trial is at an advanced stage before another judge — Case management and forum for bail applications.
|
1 February 2023 |
| January 2023 |
|
|
Appeal against concurrent three-year sentences for grievous harm and theft from the person dismissed; convictions and sentences affirmed.
-
Criminal law — Act intended to cause grievous harm — Definition of grievous harm — fracture as grievous harm; Theft from the person — section 278 read with section 282(a) — enhanced penalty; Sentencing — whether three-year concurrent sentences excessive.
|
25 January 2023 |