ROCKSON V. ARMAH

FRANCOIS J.A.

The short legal issue in this appeal revolves round the right of a purchaser to repudiate a sale upon the discovery of latent defects.

The appellant was the owner of a Mercedes Benz car which he sold to the respondent for ¢3,200.00. The respondent made cash payments totalling ¢2,200.00 and remitted two post-dated cheques of ¢500.00 each for the balance of the purchase price. Upon delivery, the car betrayed signs of recent involvement in an accident. There were serious defects in the clutch and starter systems and wide-spread damage to the mudguard and a head lamp. Initially the appellant disputed the extent of damage, maintaining that it was a mere graze which had occurred when the car brushed against a garage post. In an idle moment, however, he admitted to the accident; his subsequent revision of the facts, upon realising their probable impingement on his liability, is not credible and was rightly discounted by the trial court.

There is however the mitigating evidence…