Rex v Hirji and Others
Rex v Hirji and Others (Criminal Appeals Nos. 32, 33 and 34 of 1946) [1946] EACA 32 (1 January 1946)
The court held that while the evidence established beyond doubt that the deceased was killed by strangulation at the hands of one of the four persons found in the inner room, it did not establish a common intention among all accused to kill or cause grievous harm. The evidence supported only a common intention to assault, not to murder. The court found that unsworn statements by co-accused could not be used against others unless they amounted to confessions, which was not the case here. The misdirection by the trial judge regarding the use of such statements did not occasion a failure of just…
Source excerpt
- Murder
- Common Intention
- Joint Criminal Liability
- Admissibility Of Unsworn Statements
- Confessions
- Assault Causing Actual Bodily Harm