SAM V. THE STATE

ARCHER J.

The appellant together with two others was charged with two counts, (1) conspiracy to commit a crime to wit: stealing and (2) stealing a skull of a human being from a grave of one deceased Ama Akowa. The three persons were charged jointly and appeared before the district magistrate grade I, sitting at Cape Coast on 23 January 1967. When the charges were read, the appellant pleaded guilty to the count of conspiracy. The two others pleaded not guilty to both counts. After the facts of the case had been narrated by the prosecuting officer, the trial magistrate wrote as follows:

“By court: I am satisfied that the removal of a dead body or part of it which has been interred is a thing which has ownership vested in it, bearing in mind the set-up of our African society.

Sentence: One day’s imprisonment and a fine of ¢120.00 or six months’ imprisonment with hard labour.”

As the appellant pleaded guilty, the trial magistrate, after hearing the facts passed sentence. The appellant was n…