THE REPUBLIC VRS. NKUGLO AND NUNKON PART 4: THE OFFENCE OF ROBBERY

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Continued from Part 3…

By S.G.V. Snr.

THE OFFENCE OF ROBBERY

Robbery is a first-degree felony, according to section 149 of Act 29. Robbery is stealing with the use of force, or causing of harm, or threat of criminal assault or harm.

According to section 150 of Act 29, one commits the offence;

if in, and for the purpose of stealing the thing, that person uses force or causes harm to any other person, or
if that person uses a threat or criminal assault or harm to any other person with the intent to prevent or overcome the resistance of the other person to the stealing of the thing.

The mens rea of this offense is as follows:

first, it must be shown that the accused intended to steal something, and
second, that he used force or caused harm or threatened to cause harm or assault with intent to prevent or overcome the resistance of any person to the stealing of the thing

It is not necessary that physical harm must be caused. It is enough if a person is threatened with criminal assault or harm with intent to put him in fear of such criminal assault or harm.

In the case of Frimpong@Iboman vrs. The Republic [2012] 1 SCGLR 297, the Supreme Court stated the essential ingredients of robbery to be: “To prove the offence of robbery, the prosecution must establish the following (i) that the accused had stolen something from the victim of the robbery; (ii) in stealing the thing, the accused had used force, harm or threat of any criminal assault on the victim; (iii) the intention of doing so was to prevent or overcome any resistance; (iv) the fear of violence must be either of a personal violation to the person robbed or to any member of his household or family in a restrictive sense, and (v) the theft must have been in the presence of the person threatened.”

To prove the element of stealing, one must prove that the item stolen does not belong to the accused, and that the accused dishonestly appropriated the items as stated by the court in the case of Amankwah vrs. The Republic [2021] GHASC 88. From the facts of the case, the complainant alleged that his black backpack which contained his Elite Book laptop, his Ghanaian passport, phone charger and laptop charger has been stolen by the accused persons. The backpack, laptop, passports and chargers did not belong to the accused persons. The accused persons carried away the items allegedly stolen from the Complainants which caused the Complainant to report the incidence at the Bolga Police station. By taking these items from the Complainant, the accused persons deprived the Complainant of his rights and interest in the items. In paragraph 8 of the witness statement of the investigator (PW2), the investigator indicated that the accused persons confessed to having conspired to rob the Complainant and they indicated that they sold the laptop to another person. By selling the laptop the accused persons deprived the Complainant of the use and benefit of his laptop. Clearly the element of stealing is established.

As stated above, taking into consideration the witness statement of PW1 and PW2 by the investigator, it has been established that A1 threatened the complainant with a machete and pushed the Complainant with his friend away from the complainant’s vehicle whilst A2 swooped in to rob the complainant of his backpack containing his HP Elite Book laptop valued at Ghc4,000.00 together with his Ghanaian passport and chargers.

The use of the machete was intended to prevent or overcome any resistance from the either the complainant or his friend, and out of fear of violence or harm, both the Complainant and his friend could not stop the accused persons from taking the items.

CONCLUSION

In my opinion, Prosecution has proven the elements of the crime of conspiracy and robbery. Therefore, if there is an application for a submission of no case by Counsel of the Accused persons, it will not stand because a prima facie case has been established. Thus, the elements of the offence of conspiracy to rob has been proven by Prosecution. The Accused persons should proceed to prove their innocence or otherwise.