warns that, the accused shall not be liable to be convicted unless such
evidence is corroborated by some material evidence in support, thereby
implicating the accused. See the Gambian Court of Appeal case of LAMIN
NICOL V. THE STATE CRIM APP. 1/80 (UNREPORTED). The evidence of
these two witnesses apart from being poles apart was never also
corroborated by any other material piece of evidence.
In the Gambia Court of Appeal case of BOJANG V. THE STATE (19972001) GR 98, the Court stressed the need to approach evidence of
identification with caution, and stated that recognition by a person who
knows the other may be more reliable than identification of a stranger.
The evidence on record is that all the prosecution witnesses were
strangers to the accused.
At this stage, I am convinced that the evidence led by the prosecution
does not sufficiently identify and point to the accused as the perpetrator
of the offence and this I shall hold as a fact. Therefore, the actus reus of
the offence under charge has not been established by the prosecution and
this I must also hold as a fact. Since the prosecution has failed to
establish the actus reus of the offence under charge, it would be
worthless and will amount to an exercise in futility if I try to venture into
issues of the mens rea. What this means is that, I have a cloud of doubts
in my mind whether or not it is the accused person who committed the
offence under charge.
It is the law that once the prosecution fails to establish the actus reus of
an offence such as the instant case, and where there are doubts in the
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