Patrick Okeke Vs The State (1969)

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FATAI-WILLIAMS, J.S.C.

We dismissed this appeal on 19th June, 1969, and now give our reasons for doing so. The Appellant was convicted by Bello, J. (High Court, Ilorin, Kwara State) of culpable homicide punishable with death under section 221 of the Penal Code.

The charge stated that the appellant on or about the 26th day of November, 1965, at the north end of the railway platform at Jebba caused the death of one Edward Osho Sunmonu.   At the trial the prosecution adduced evidence to show that the deceased was one of the two persons attacked by the Appellant on the night of 26th November, 1965. On the night in question, the appellant, a policeman, went to a bar in Jebba for a drink.

After he had had some beer he picked a quarrel with another customer in the bar and was taken out. On getting outside, he went to lodge a complaint about the man with whom he had had the quarrel at the railway police station. The police officer on duty, noticing that the appellant was far from sober, refused to entertain the complaint.

The appellant then went away annoyed but returned to the police station later collected some of the station documents, and took them to his house where he set them on fire. When he was asked by p.w.3 another policeman why he was burning the documents he replied that he did this because the officer on duty refused to accept his complaint.

At this juncture, a boy came out of the police barracks.  The appellant, for some unknown reason, chased this boy with the matchet which he (the appellant) was holding but the boy escaped. Following the boy’s escape, the appellant informed the boy’s master that he would have cut the boy with the matchet had he not escaped. Soon after this, the appellant, after putting on a shirt and informing the p.w.3 that he was going to fight the police officer on duty at the police station who had refused to entertain his complaint, proceeded towards the railway station still holding his matchet.

At the railway station he attacked one Corporal Amadu Zungeru of the Nigeria Police Force (p.w.10) cutting him twice with his matchet. P.W. 10 who had never met appellant before the attack was in transit at Jebba and was sleeping by his loads at the time he was attacked. For no known reason, he also attacked the deceased who was also waiting for a train at the station with his matchet. The deceased died on the spot from the injuries he sustained from the attack.

The evidence showed that there were eight matchet cuts on the deceased, the serious ones being an incised wound 5ins by ½ in causing a fracture of the left frontal and parietal bone, another incised wound 2½ ins by ½ in by the scalp on the left parietal part, two incised wounds on the left ear cutting the ear into two, and an incised wound 6ins by 2ins on the muscle of the right forearms. After attacking the deceased, the appellant ran to his house and was later arrested there during the early hours of the following morning. After his arrest, the appellant made two statements to the police and in neither of these did he mention anything about the attack first on Corporal Zungeru and later on the deceased.

While he gave a detailed description of various other incidents with which he was connected on the night in question in the first statement (exhibit 1) he went into great detail about matters totally unconnected with the fateful evening in the other statement. In his evidence on oath the appellant said that after he had had some beer at the bar someone offered him a cigarette. When he told the person that he never smoked the person replied that the cigarette was better than beer and that it popped people up. He said he then accepted the cigarette and smoked it because he wanted to be happier.

At first the cigarette made him happier but later made him confused. From the moment he became confused, he lost his memory and did not know or remember what he was doing until his arrest in his house by the police.  Dr. Hussein (p.w.12) who testified for the prosecution expressed the opinion that if the cigarette smoked by the appellant contained some intoxicant such as Indian hemp it could have acute intoxicating effect on him resulting in abnormal behaviour.

After considering the evidence adduced by both the prosecution and the defence the learned trial Judge came to the conclusion that the prosecution had proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the appellant caused the death of the deceased. With regard to the attack on the deceased he observed further as follows:- “A matchet is a deadly weapon and a person in the state of life must know that death would not only be likely but the probable consequence of inflicting such wounds with it on a human being.

I find all the elements of culpable homicide punishable under section 221 proved.” He then proceeded to consider the defences put forward by the appellant in the light of the opinion offered by Dr. Hussein (P.W.12) and found as follows:- “I am satisfied within the balance of probabilities that the accused smoked some cigarettes containing some intoxicant and that coupled with the beer he took produced acute intoxicating effect upon him causing the mental abnormality upon him which resulted to his action.”

The learned trial Judge then proceeded to consider whether this mental abnormality amounted to insanity under section 51 of the Penal Code and found, quite rightly in our view, that having regard to the evidence which he had accepted that it did not. He thereupon, considered the defence of intoxication and referred to section 44 of the Penal Code which reads:- “A person who does an act In a state of intoxication is presumed to have the same knowledge as he should have had if he had not been intoxicated.”

He then observed, again rightly in our view, that intoxication which resulted in mental oblivion would not excuse criminal responsibility unless it fell within section 52 of the Code which provides that:- “Nothing is an offence which is done by a person who, at the time of doing it, is by reason of intoxication caused by something administered to him without his knowledge or against his will, incapable of knowing the nature of the act, or that he is doing what is either wrong, or contrary to law.”