AKUFO-ADDO J.S.C.: Where the trial of the offender is by a circuit court or local court, the trial court before committing the offender to the High Court for sentence of preventive custody, shall satisfy itself that the offender is not a young person, and shall state on the record the grounds for being so satisfied, including any enquiry that the trial court may have held in that behalf and also any evidence tendered by the prosecution in establishing that the offender is not a young person. In other words it must appear on the face of the record that the trial court was satisfied by evidence or otherwise that the offender was not a young person. In the case of an obviously grown-up person (i.e. of the age of 20 years or more) not much difficulty would appear to arise in determining this issue, but where the offender is not obviously a grown-up person, the fact that he is not a young person must be strictly proved.
It is basically essential that at least two previous convictions be est…