ACTION NO. 40

_____

Mr. Dons Waithe for the Plaintiff.
Defendant in person.

BEFORE the Hon. Abdulai Conteh, Chief Justice.

_____

JUDGMENT

This case is really about the proverbial pig in a poke or in the Belizean parlance Apuss in a bag@. The pig or puss in this instance was a vehicle the Defendant had agreed to purchase for the Plaintiff in the U.S.A.

The Defendant who is a car dealer had agreed to travel to the U.S.A. to acquire two vehicles for the Plaintiff.

From the evidence in this case, it turns out that only one of the vehicles was in any working order.

The Plaintiff's claim is therefore only in respect of the money he had paid for the other vehicle. The Plaintiff paid the Defendant a total of$10,790.00 for the two vehicles; and the Defendant said he bought two Ford Ranger vehicles, a 1987 model and a 1988 model.

However it was the 1987 model which proved to be in working order as the Defendant said he used it to tow the other vehicle to Belize from the U.S.A.

The Defendant however said that the 1988 model belonged to his brother-in-law in the U.S.A. from whom he presumably acquired it. The Defendant also said that this vehicle had the radiator and some parts missing and that it was from an insurance salvage auction with damages to the front and right passenger side. The Defendant further testified that he noticed that this vehicle was wobbly when it was moving and that he had to buy a shaft for it.

From the totality of the evidence in this case, I am satisfied that the vehicle, the 1988 Ford Ranger, which, as I said, the Defendant presumably acquired from his brother-in-law, would not have been paid for by the plaintiff if he had known or been told of its true condition. It turned out to be a real pig in a poke!

I therefore find and hold that the Plaintiff is entitled to a refund of the money he paid to the Defendant for this vehicle. From the evidence this amounts to $5,090.00.

Accordingly, I enter judgment for the Plaintiff for the sum of $5,090.00 with interest at the rate of 2% from the date of the writ in this action to the date of this judgment.

The Defendant shall also pay the costs to the Plaintiff in the sum of $500.00.

A. O. CONTEH
Chief Justice

DATED: 26th September, 2001.