Results.
24 judgments found.
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| June 2017 |
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Court awarded engine replacement cost and held employer vicariously liable for employee's negligent engine wash; no compensation for loss of business.
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Civil procedure — Subordinate Court may hear matter where defendant absent but plaintiff must adduce evidence; Negligence — duty, breach, damage; Vicarious liability — employer liable for employee's torts committed in course of employment; Damages — recovery allowed for proven replacement cost, insufficient proof for consequential losses.
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29 June 2017 |
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Withdrawal of a criminal complaint constituted consideration, making the respondent liable under the settlement agreement for K30,000.
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Contract law — formation and enforceability — withdrawal of a criminal complaint as valid consideration — settlement of alleged obtaining money by false pretences — debt recovery by default writ.
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16 June 2017 |
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A hirer is not liable for ordinary mechanical breakdowns absent evidence of gross negligence; owner bears such risks.
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Contract interpretation — vehicle-hire agreement — clause making hirer liable for "whatsoever damages" — scope does not include ordinary mechanical breakdowns; implied term that owner bears mechanical faults absent gross negligence; burden of proof on hirer to show gross negligence; default writ and insufficiency of evidence on counterclaim.
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14 June 2017 |
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Conviction where single-night identifying witness and corroborative circumstance proved burglary and theft beyond reasonable doubt.
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Criminal law — Burglary and theft — breaking and entering at night — elements of s.301 Penal Code — Single witness identification — mistaken identity — corroboration and circumstantial evidence.
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8 June 2017 |
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On rehearing the court found statements accusing the plaintiff of theft defamatory, awarded K16,000 and allowed separate actions against company and individual.
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Defamation — elements: defamatory words, reference to plaintiff, publication to third parties — Malice/absence of reasonable inquiry — Subordinate Court jurisdiction on rehearing to grant equitable and legal remedies — Repetition of defamatory words creates fresh cause of action — Liability of individual and principal for separate publications.
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8 June 2017 |
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Courts below lack jurisdiction to appoint or remove administrators where the estate value exceeds statutory thresholds.
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Succession law — jurisdictional limits under Intestate Succession Act s.43 — estate value thresholds for local and subordinate courts — nullity of letters of administration issued without jurisdiction — High Court as proper forum for large estates.
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8 June 2017 |
| May 2017 |
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Accused convicted for theft by agent after entrusted beer was diverted, proceeds not accounted for.
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Criminal law — Theft by agent — Section 280(b) Penal Code — Entrusted property — Ostensible authority/holding out — Proof beyond reasonable doubt — Admissibility of caution statement.
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18 May 2017 |
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18 May 2017 |
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15 May 2017 |
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12 May 2017 |
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Plaintiff failed to prove ownership or existence of an estate; claims dismissed and no accounting ordered.
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Succession/Property — ownership versus registered title — evidentiary onus in civil claims — administrator accounting; long occupation and documentary evidence can rebut registration.
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12 May 2017 |
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Accused convicted for forging, uttering false documents and obtaining money by false pretences based on identification and corroboration.
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Criminal law — Forgery (sections 342, 347) — False NRC and title deed — Uttering false documents (section 344(b)) — Obtaining money by false pretences (section 309) — Identification evidence — Corroboration by ‘odd coincidence' (photo on forged document).
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4 May 2017 |
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Judgment entered on an admitted K5,000 debt; court set K1,000 monthly instalments, interest from writ date, and costs to plaintiff.
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Civil procedure — admitted claim — assessment of reasonable instalment payments — debtor's informal income and past default — judgment entered with instalments, interest and costs.
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3 May 2017 |
| April 2017 |
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Accused convicted of theft where guard and police evidence proved the elements beyond reasonable doubt.
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Theft — elements of theft (ownership, thing capable of being stolen, fraudulent conversion, intent to permanently deprive, no claim of right) — Evidence — eyewitness security guard and police corroboration — hearsay disregarded — burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
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28 April 2017 |
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Subordinate court severed misdemeanour counts, ordered inquiries and reading-material access, and refused to quash treason charge lacking pleaded overt acts.
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Criminal procedure — joinder and severance of counts; treason — requirement to plead overt acts; bad charge versus defective charge; limits on Subordinate Court’s power to quash indictments triable only by the High Court; mandatory Preliminary Inquiry (s.223); detainee rights — prohibition of torture and entitlement to reasonable reading material.
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26 April 2017 |
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Circumstantial evidence plus an admission and recovery of stolen property established the accused's guilt for breaking and entering.
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Criminal law — Breaking and entering (s.303(a) Penal Code) — Elements of offence — Circumstantial evidence and admissions — Recovery of stolen property — Proof beyond reasonable doubt.
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24 April 2017 |
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Accused convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm based on single-witness testimony and medical corroboration.
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Criminal law — Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm — elements: assault, occasioning bodily harm, identity — Single-witness evidence admissible if clear and satisfactory — Medical report corroboration — Alleged civil motive does not negate criminal liability.
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3 April 2017 |
| March 2017 |
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Whether property acquired before marriage is excluded from division and how custody and maintenance orders serve children's best interests.
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Family law — division of matrimonial property — intention and timing of acquisition; exclusion of property acquired before marriage; household goods to be shared equally; vehicles as matrimonial assets; compensatory spousal payment requires proof of disparate post‑divorce income; custody determined by best interests of the child; maintenance and reviewable welfare orders.
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30 March 2017 |
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State failed to prove all elements of smuggling; accused acquitted due to reasonable doubt.
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Criminal law — Anti‑Human Trafficking Act s.9(1) — Elements of smuggling (procurement for benefit; facilitation; lack of lawful justification) — Competence of spouse witness (Criminal Procedure Code s.151) — Travel documents v. underhand methods — Burden of proof and reasonable doubt — Acquittal.
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30 March 2017 |
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Medical evidence and parental documentation corroborated the prosecutrix’s testimony, supporting conviction for defilement beyond reasonable doubt.
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Criminal law — Defilement (s.138(1) Penal Code) — elements: unlawful carnal knowledge, identity, age — corroboration by medical evidence (STI, hymen injuries) — proof of age (parental evidence, under-five card) — statutory defence of reasonable belief in age not raised.
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21 March 2017 |
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Whether funds entrusted to an agent for vehicle purchase were fraudulently converted, establishing theft by agent.
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Criminal law — Theft by agent — Conversion of entrusted funds — Intent to permanently deprive — Reliance on bank records, correspondence and witness testimony — Sections 265, 272 and 280(b) Penal Code.
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20 March 2017 |
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Whether prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that accused stole a motor vehicle using a forged cheque.
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Criminal law — Theft of motor vehicle (s281A) — Elements: registrable motor vehicle; without claim of right; intention permanently to deprive — Use of forged bankers’ cheque — Proof of authorship: eyewitness evidence vs handwriting expert opinion — False identity and orchestration as indicia of guilt.
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10 March 2017 |
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First accused (acting PS) convicted for corruptly accepting a company‑paid borehole and abusing office; company convicted for corrupt payment as inducement.
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Anti‑corruption — corrupt gratification as inducement or reward — proposed as well as actual transactions — public officer definition — abuse of office where payment contrary to contractual terms prejudices government legal rights.
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6 March 2017 |
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A public officer convicted for accepting K3000 as gratification to secure release of an impounded vehicle.
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Anti‑Corruption Act s19(1) — corrupt practices by a public officer; gratification; s66(1) presumption where acceptance proved; bank deposit and call‑records as corroborative evidence; release of impounded vehicle as inducement/reward.
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2 March 2017 |