<p><strong>ARCHER J.A.</strong></p><p>The plaintiff, a prison officer, employed by the State, claimed damages for assault and battery committed on him by two fellow prison officers on 23 January 1967 at the Ussher Fort Prison, Accra. His writ of summons was issued originally against the Minister of Interior but later on he applied to join the Attorney-General also as a defendant. There is no doubt that these two defendants were sued as representatives of the plaintiff’s employers, that is, the State.</p><p>By their statement of defence, the defendants pleaded that on the day of the alleged assault and battery, there was a struggle between the plaintiff and the other two prison officers for the recovery of a letter which the plaintiff had put into his mouth to chew in order to prevent the other officers from reading it, and in their attempt to retrieve the letter from the plaintiff’s mouth, no more force was applied in the attempt than was necessary in the circumstances.</p><p>When the trial commenced, the defendants submitte…</p>