The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Culpable homicide

  • Court remands five for alleged attack of Saraki’s residence

    A Magistrate Court sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital has remanded five in prison custody for their alleged involvement in the recent attack on the Agbaji, Ilorin family residence of the Senate President Bukola Saraki.

    Police First Information Report (FIR) gave the names of the suspects as Omotosho Alawo, Ibrahim Shittu, Usman Ayilara Gobir, Ahmed Shina and Olashehu Ndarabi.

    The suspects were dragged before Magistrate Mariam Dasuki for criminal conspiracy, mischief, theft, an attempt to commit an offence to with culpable homicide contrary to sections 97,327,288,299 of penal code.

    They were alleged to have unleashed terror on Agbaji and Ode Alfa Nda communities, Ilorin during an electioneering campaign in the metropolis.

    According to the FIR, the suspects engaged in a free-for-all during which Yusuf Babatunde, Ibrahim Taofeeq, Adisa Muritala and Hussein Hassan sustained serious injuries.

    The fracas also led to the destruction of several vehicles parked within the areas by innocent citizens while buildings were also damaged, the FIR added.

    It added that concerted efforts of the operatives of the Criminal Intelligence and Investigating Department (CIID), Police headquarters, Ilorin led to the arrest of the suspects.

    The FIR stated that the suspects confessed to have actively participated in the fracas with others who are presently at large.

    One of the phones stolen at the scene of the mayhem was said to have been recovered from one of the suspects.

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    The prosecutor, Gbenga Ayeni, urged the court to remand the suspects in prisons custody pending the determination of the police investigation on the matter.

    The accused’s counsel Ayodeji Saka prayed the court to discountenance the submission of the prosecutor, arguing that the accused were still presumed innocent until contrarily is proven.

    He said that remanding his clients is tantamount to pre-trial.

    In her ruling, Magistrate Dasuki ordered that the suspects should be remanded in prisons custody.

    She then adjourned the case to February 12, 2019.

  • Civil servant jailed seven years for culpable homicide

    A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Apo yesterday sentenced Cyril Umunnakwe, a civil servant, to seven years for causing the death of Ochefu Chris.

    Justice Idris Baba ordered the convict to pay N3 million to the deceased’s family.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Idris found the defendant guilty of culpable homicide and convicted him on January 31, but withheld the sentence.

    “I have considered that the defendant is a first time offender and the breadwinner of his family,” he said.

    Umunnakwe, 56, of Lanto Road, Pasali, Kuje, was arraigned on May 3, 2016, on a two-count charge of culpable homicide punishable with death.

    The prosecutor, Doris Okoroba, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on March 23, 2016.

    She said the defendant knocked down and dragged Deputy Road Commander Ochefu Chris while on duty.

    Justice Idris held that the prosecutor proved his case beyond reasonable doubt, supported by eyewitnesses.

    He sentenced Umunnakwe to seven years starting from the day he was remanded.

     

  • 91 Shiite members in Court for alleged culpable homicide

    The Kaduna State Government yesterday arraigned another batch of 91 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) before a Kaduna High Court, seeking death sentence for the accused.

    According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the government on April 21 arraigned 50 members of the sect on similar charges.

    They were among the 266 sect members arrested during the Shiite/Army clash between Dec. 12 and Dec 14,  last year in Zaria.

    The arrested persons are facing charges including death sentence, while 10 others are facing other charges in different courts in the state.

    They were arraigned on a five-count charge for criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, disturbance of public peace and wrongful restrain.

    Mr. Dari Bayero, who led the prosecution, told Justice Hajara Gwadah that the accused persons were being charged “pursuant to Sections 97, 102, 106, 221 and 256 of the Penal Code Law of Kaduna State.

    “My Lord the charge before you is for mention. We humbly apply that the names of the accused persons be called out for identification.

    “My Lord the 1st, 13th, 34th, 39th, 57th , 66th and 70th accused persons are not in court and are absent.

    “They were released on bail and are aware of this date particularly the accused person No. 57 who we have proof of service on.

    “My Lord, the 1st accused person was released on bail to one Ibrahim Haruna who is Resident at Zaria.

    “My Lord we hereby apply for a bench warrant against the 57th accused person.

    “My Lord same is also applied against all the accused persons that are absent. I also apply for a short date for further arraignment.“

    Mr Festus Okoye, who led the defence team, said the prosecution had not served any of the accused persons with the charge since the case was filed on March 22, 2016.

    “My Lord our first application is that the prosecution should serve the charges on all the accused persons.

    “My Lord, the application for bench warrant against the accused persons that are not before the court is not proper.

    “My Lord the 1st accused and his surety were not served with a copy of this charge and hearing notice and thus, are not aware that the matter comes up today.

    “The 13th accused person was released because he was critically ill. There is also no evidence that he was served with the charge or hearing notice.

    “The 39th and 70th accused persons were released on bail because they are minors and were not served against today. I don’t have information on the 57th accused person.“

    The defence counsel requested the court to order the prosecution to serve the accused persons that were not in court and their sureties.

    After listening to the submissions, the Judge issued a bench warrant against the 57th accused person.

    “Bench warrant against 57th accused person is hereby granted. Accused persons are to be served personally.

    “Case adjourned to June 1, 2016 for arraignment,“ Gwadah declared

  • Pistorius found guilty of culpable homicide

    OLYMPIC and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide yesterday ,24 hours after he was found not guilty of the more serious charge of murder for the killing of his girlfriend. He may end up in jail when sentence is delivered on Monday,October 13.

    The 27-year-old double amputee, who became one of the biggest names in world athletics, stood impassively in the dock, his hands folded in front of him, as Judge Thokozila Masipa delivered her verdict. Pistorius was also convicted of firing a pistol under the table of a packed Johannesburg restaurant but cleared of two other firearms charges – illegal possession of ammunition and firing a pistol out of the sun-roof of a car.

    Masipa based her culpable homicide decision on the fact Pistorius had acted negligently when he fired Pistorius found guilty of culpable homicide four shots from a 9mm pistol into a toilet door in his luxury Pretoria home, killing Steenkamp, who was behind it, almost instantly. He said it was a tragic error after he mistook her for an intruder.

    Culpable homicide – South Africa’s equivalent to manslaughter – carries up to 15 years in prison but, given Pistorius’s lack of previous convictions, he could avoid a custodial sentence altogether, legal experts said. “He’s almost certainly, in my opinion, not going to be going to jail,” criminal law expert Martin Hood told South Africa’s ENCA television. Masipa set sentencing for Oct. 13 and granted a bail extension. Flanked by police and bodyguards, a stone-faced Pistorius made his way out of the court through a scrum of reporters, television cameras and on-lookers.

    “We never had any doubt about Oscar’s version of events,” his uncle Arnold Pistorius told reporters after the verdict. “It won’t bring Reeva back, but our hearts go out to her family and friends.” South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority said it was “disappointed” not to have secured a premeditated murder conviction, but would not make any decision about an appeal until after sentencing.

    Masipa’s decision also sparked anger outside the court, particularly among those campaigning for women’s rights in a country with high levels of violent crime against women and children. One aspect of the ruling has also sparked legal controversy, turning ordinary South Africans into overnight armchair experts on the vexed issue of ‘dolus eventualis’, a concept of intent that holds a person responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their actions. While Masipa ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove explicit premeditation to kill Steenkamp – a decision that had been anticipated by many legal experts – she also cleared Pistorius of murder dolus eventualis. A 2008 paper by KwaZulu Natal law professor Shannon Hoctor explained dolus eventualis as when a person “foresaw the possibility that the act in question … would have fatal consequences, and was reckless whether death resulted or not”.

  • Indian movie star faces homicide charge

    Indian movie star faces homicide charge

    An Indian court has ruled that Bollywood superstar Salman Khan should face a charge of culpable homicide for a hit-and-run incident 10 years ago.

    In September 2002, he allegedly drove his car into a bakery in Mumbai city, killing a street sleeper, BBC reports.

    The actor is currently being tried for the lesser offence of “death caused by negligence”. He could face 10 years in prison for the more serious charge.

    He denies the charges and has said he will challenge the latest order.

    Khan is one of Bollywood’s biggest stars and has starred in more than 80 Hindi films, including Dabangg, Ready, Bodyguard, Ek Tha Tiger, Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aap Ke Hain Kaun.

    Late on the night of September 28, 2002, Khan’s Toyota Land Cruiser rammed into the American Express bakery in the Bandra area of Mumbai, authorities say.

    The vehicle ran over five people sleeping on the streets, killing one of them.

    Khan was initially charged with culpable homicide. But he successfully challenged that charge in court and it was reduced to “causing death by negligence.”

    The trial finally began before the Bandra Magistrate Court in 2006. As it was a lesser charge, Khan has not had to appear before the court.

    The court heard several witnesses between 2006 and 2011 but in March 2011 the prosecution asked for the more serious charge to be reinstated.

    This latest order is a response to that application.