Supreme Court
Inferior Court Appeal No. 18 of 1978
3rd March, 1980.
Jones, J.

Mr. Godfrey for the Plaintiff
Mr. Elrington for the Defendant

Appeal against conviction - Stealing contrary to Section 155(c) - Verdict unreasonable - Sufficiency of evidence

J U D G M E N T

The Appellant was convicted by the Chief Magistrate of the Belize Judicial District on the 9th October 1978 of Stealing Contrary to Section 155 (c). An appeal was lodged against the conviction on the 29th November, 1978 on the grounds that the verdict was unreasonable and could not be supported having regard to the evidence.

What happened here was that a Watchman (Mr. Lloyd Myvett) was on duty on the night of the 6th - 7th June, 1978; when at about 3 a. m. as he was leaning on a car in New Road he fell asleep with his shotgun resting on the bonnet of the car on which he was leaning. He awoke 15-20 minutes later and found that the shotgun had gone. Mr. Myvett immediately went to the Police Station and made a report; whilst he was making the report a gun was brought into the Police Station which he identified as his gun, this being done in the presence of the Appellant.

It transpired that Mr. Apolonio whilst walking home from work at 3:15 a. m. on the 7th June, 1978 had seen the Appellant (whom he knew by sight) coming out of Hyde's Lane with a 16 gauge shotgun in his right hand. He later saw the Appellant at a girl's house some 50 yards from his own house and Mr. Apolonio kept watch at his gate and later saw the Appellant put his hand through broken glass, loosen a catch by the window, open it, and enter the house. As a result of what he saw Mr. Apolonio made a report to the Police. The Police apprehended the Appellant at the house but did not find a gun. However, it appears that there are four houses inside one yard at this location, and a search was made there and eventually the shotgun was found under one of the houses in the yard, about 25 feet from the house where the Appellant was found. Mr. Apolonio said that the gun exhibited in Court was the same gun that he had seen carried by the Appellant, and which was later found in his presence under a house in the yard by the Police.

P. C. Swift told the Lower Court that after the Appellant was cautioned, he had said to him:

"Let me tell you how I got in possession of this gun. I was at home at my house at #7 Victoria Street when a fellow known to me as "Jaguar" came and sold me it for $35. I asked him how he was selling the gun without any shots, and he stated he did not have any………………So I decided to hide it right under the house where you found it."

However, in his evidence before the Court the Appellant denied having said this. He did admit that the Police showed him a gun at the house that night, but said that he denied it because he did not have that particular shotgun in his possession.

It was the Appellant's case that he did have an imitation shotgun that night, something looking like a shotgun made of wood; and that this imitation gun was behind the door of his house when the police made their search; but the Appellant did not put this to P. C. Swift in cross examination.

Mr. Godfrey (for the Appellant) submitted in considerable detail that the conviction could not be supported on the evidence; he took the view that there was not merely one inference to be drawn but that there were several other possibilities. He said given the facts there were several inferences possible from the evidence, and suggested that perhaps someone else had stolen the shotgun.

Mr. Elrington (for the Crown) in reply submitted that there was clear and corroborating evidence supporting the conviction and drew particular attention to the fact that the incident had taken place between 3:00 and 4:00 a. m. on the morning of the 7th June, 1978.

In the result I am quite satisfied that the learned Chief Magistrate had more than sufficient evidence before him to convict the Appellant as charged. It follows that the appeal against conviction is dismissed.

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