Gasper Simplis Banai versus The Republic; Criminal Appeal no 347 of 2014: Court of Appeal of Tanzania at Arusha (Unreported).
- Criminal Law.
- Murder – Death must be proved.
- Sentencing – under what circumstances appellate court may interfere?
Held:-
(i) The crucial finding in any charge of murder or manslaughter is whether there is a person who has been killed. The trial judgment has to make a categorical finding that someone is really dead and should not leave that to be by way of inference.
(ii) (Quoting with approval Brian Slaffery “Handbook on sentencing”); the grounds on which an appeal court will alter a sentence are relatively few, but are actually more numerous than is generally realized or stated in the cases. Perhaps the most common ground is that a sentence is ‘manifestly excessive or as is sometimes put, so excessive as to shock. It should be emphasized that the ‘manifestly’ is not mere decoration, and a court will not alter a sentence on appeal simply because it thinks it is severe. A closely related ground is when a sentence is manifestly ‘inadequate.’ A sentence will also be overturned when it is based upon a wrong principle of sentencing. An appeal court will also overturn a sentence when the trial court overlooked a factor, such as that the accused is a first offender, or that he has committed the offence while under the influence of drink. It the same way, it will quash a sentence which has obviously been based on irrelevant considerations finally an appeal court will alter a sentence which is plainly illegal as when corporal punishment is imposed per the sentence of receiving stolen property.