SERECHI AND ANOTHER V. THE STATE

OLLENNU J.S.C. delivered the judgment of the court.

The appellants were convicted of the offence of murder by the High Court, Kumasi, upon the verdict of a jury. The incident happened on the 15th December, 1962, in Obuasi town between the hours of 12.15 and 12.30 p.m., and involved some trucks being carried by a mines locomotive engine. The trucks in question are firewood trucks and were described as flat having iron poles. The train started from the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation mines office, Obuasi, travelling to a village called "Mile 14" to load firewood; the locomotive was driven by the first witness for the prosecution, the appellants who were employees of the mines and other persons travelled on it.

The case for the prosecution is that the appellants were on duty at the time and that their said duty was to put the trucks back on the rail if there happened to be derailment. Employees of the mines were permitted to travel on the trucks, but it was prohibited to non-employees that…