R. v. Said and Amir Crim. Sass. 76-Tanga-71; Kwikima Ag. J.

 R. v. Said and Amir Crim. Sass. 76-Tanga-71; Kwikima Ag. J.

The two accused father and son were charged with murder c/s 196 of the Penal Code. The deceased was ambushed while walking to his village from the market and stabbed by the assailants. A witness Ali Bakari purported to have identified the accused as the assailants:

Held: (1) “In his evidence Ali states that the assailants confronted the deceased and killed him. In this he is contradicted by the doctor who in his opinion stated that the deceased must have been surprised by his assailants who attacked him from behind. Otherwise he would have struggled and the injuries on his neck would not have been so neat. If the doctor’s evidence should be accepted, and it stands to reason that if should, how could Ali have seen the faces of the assailants when it was dark, when the path was overgrown with grass and when instead of running tot eh aid of the deceased Ali ran away crying in fear?” (2) “In the present case I am unable to say that the evidence for the prosecution meets the test as laid down in Abdallah bin Wendo and Anor v. R. 20 E. A. C. A. 166. I have found no evidence circumstantial or direct, to corroborate the purported identification of the accused by Ali Bakari. For this reason and in view

            Of the uncertainty of the circumstances under which the identification was made, I am unable to find the accused guilty of the offence with which they stand charged.”