Denton (Roy) v R

• Jurisdiction: Jamaica
• Judge: ORAL JUDGMENT , HARRISON, P.
• Judgment Date: 28 March 2007
• Neutral Citation: JM 2007 CA 8
• Judgment citation (vLex): [2007] 3 JJC 2801
• Court: Court of Appeal (Jamaica)
• Date: 28 March 2007

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL

BEFORE:

THE HON. MR. JUSTICE HARRISON, P THE HON. MR. JUSTICE COOKE, J.A THE HON. MRS. JUSTICE HARRIS, J.A

ROY DENTON

v

R

Debayo Adedipe for appellant

Miss Paula Llewellyn, Snr. Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions & Miss Natalie Ebanks, Crown Counsel (Ag.) for the Crown

CRIMINAL LAW - Unlawful arrest

ORAL JUDGMENT HARRISON, P.

1 This is an appeal against the conviction of the appellant by the learned Resident Magistrate for the parish of Manchester on 22 ^nd October 2002 for the offence of assault occasioning bodily harm. The appellant was ordered to pay a fine of $10,000.00 and in default of payment to serve six (6) months imprisonment at hard labour.

2 On reading the record of appeal, this Court took the unaccustomed step of calling on the Crown initially, to advise the Court whether or not the Crown could support the conviction. Miss Llewellyn advised the Court, quite readily, that the Crown could not.

3 We agreed with counsel for the Crown. Consequently, without calling on counsel for the appellant, we allowed the appeal, quashed the conviction, set aside the sentence and entered a judgment and verdict of acquittal. These are our reasons for so doing.

4 The facts are as follows.

5 On 28 ^th April 2001 at 6.00 p.m. Cpl. Donald Green and Cons. Dunn were on traffic duty in the town of Spaulding in the parish of Manchester. The appellant was standing at the entrance to a supermarket. Both police officers went up to the appellant. Cons. Dunn told the appellant that he was wanted on a warrant of arrest, and "was about to hold him." Cpl. Green testified that the appellant pushed away the hands of Cons. Dunn and "was about to run" when he Cpl. Green held the appellant who then "started throwing punches in [his] direction." Cpl. Green said that he "pulled my black baton and used it to block a number of punches" and the end of his baton caught one Michael Denton standing nearby. Cpl. Green said that he held the appellant in the waist of his pants and they both fell. He, Cpl. Green hit his back on a deep freezer in the supermarket and the appellant hit his head on the freezer sustaining a wound.

6 The appellant said, on oath, "that Cons. Dunn held him, at first and Cpl. Green came from beside a jeep where he had been standing and held him". Both police officers pulled him into the supermarket. He said that Cpl. Green hit him in his head with the black baton, causing a...