Brief court decisions on civil wrongs

By Safi Jimba
Trespass to the person assault (II)
Continued from last week
The learned magistrate found for the respondent, saying that he disbelieved the plaintiff and that it was inconceivable that the respondent, the Oba of Igbogbo and an old man, would have stooped so low as to have committed an assault on the plaintiff.
Held: (1) that one of the reasons why the trial magistrate had said that he disbelieved the evidence of the appellant was based on his view that it was inconceivable that an Oba and an old man would have stooped so low as to have committed the alleged assault;
(2) that it was a misdirection for the trial magistrate to have taken the view that a man would not commit an assault because of his status or age;
(3) that, however, if an appeal was to succeed on the ground of misdirection, it must be shown that the misdirection had resulted in a substantial miscarriage of justice and that the appellant had thereby lost a chance of success, which was fairly open to him upon a substantial part of the case (Barry v. Minturn) A.C. 584; (4) that if misdirection was established, as had been done in this case, it was for the party supporting the verdict and judgment to show by means of evidence that it did not cause a miscarriage of justice (Anthony v. Halstead (1877) 37 L.T. 433; White v. Barnes (1914) W.N.74);
to be continued next week