Cooper v R

• Jurisdiction: Bahamas
• Judge: Blair-Kerr, P.,Duffus, J.A.,Luckhoo, J.A.
• Judgment Date: 03 March 1980
• Neutral Citation: BS 1980 CA 2
• Docket Number: Criminal Appeal No. 11 of 1979
• Court: Court of Appeal (Bahamas)
• Date: 03 March 1980

Court of Appeal

Blair-Kerr, P.; Duffus, J.A.; Luckhoo, J.A.

Criminal Appeal No. 11 of 1979

Cooper

and

R

Criminal Law - Appeal against conviction — Attempted armed robbery and unlawful entry by night — Appeal dismissed.

Judgment of the Court:

1 The appellant and one Henry Rolle were charged with the following offences:

• (1) Attempted armed robbery, the particulars being that on 29th March 1978, being armed with a handgun and a stick they attempted to rob a Mr. Colin Saunders.

• (2) Unlawful entry by night; the particulars being that on 7th April 1978, they entered the house of a Mrs. Harriet Mace with intent to commit armed robbery.

• (3) Armed robbery, the particulars being that on 7th April 1978, being armed with scissors and a cutlass, they robbed Mrs. Harriet Mace of $56.

2 On 14th February, 1979 Henry Rolle pleaded guilty to all three counts. The appellant pleaded not guilty but was found guilty by the jury. On the first count, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment; on the second count to two years imprisonment; and on the third count to four years imprisonment. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently and to commence at the expiration of a sentence of eighteen months imprisonment which had been passed on him by the magistrate on 27th April 1978 in respect of an offence of stealing. The appellant now appeals against his convictions. He does not complain about the sentences of 3, 2, and 4 years passed on him.

3 Colin Saunders testified that on 29th March 1978 at Dean's Lane, Fort Charlotte as he was about to start his car, two youths, one armed with what appeared to be a gun and the other carrying a large stick or club, appeared at the driving side of the car and demanded that he hand over his wallet. He refused. He was forced to get out of the car and the demand repeated. As the person with the club made to hit him with it, he ran shouting to the owner of a nearby house to loose his dogs, and as the dogs started barking, the two youths ran away.

4 Mr. Saunders said that the appellant was “similar” to one of the two youths; and the trial judge very properly advised the jury that such identification was weak.

5 The main evidence relied upon by the prosecution was an oral statement and a statement recorded by a police officer who interviewed the appellant on 23rd April 1978. According to P.C. Ingraham, the appellant was told that he and another person were suspected of...