Wakilii

Rex v Enyaju and Another (Criminal Appeals Nos. 15 and 16 of 1945)

East African Court of Appeal · [1945] EACA 8 · 1945 Appeals Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeals from convictions for murder in the High Court of Uganda
Decision
Both appellants' convictions for murder upheld

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

Where two persons each independently inflict inevitably fatal injuries on a living victim with intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm, both are guilty of murder. The first appellant pierced the deceased's skull causing the brain to protrude. While the deceased was still alive but at the point of death, the second appellant fractured the other side of the skull. Medical evidence established that each injury would inevitably have caused death. Both convictions for murder upheld.

Outcome

Both appellants' convictions for murder upheld

Facts

During a native dance, the first accused Tomasi struck the deceased on the head with the sharp end of his heavy dancing stick, piercing the skull and causing the brain to protrude. Almost immediately thereafter, while the deceased was on the ground but still alive though at the point of death, the second accused Elasu beat the deceased violently on the other side of the head with his dancing stick, fracturing the skull. Medical evidence established that each injury independently would inevitably have caused death. Both accused were convicted of murder in the High Court of Uganda and appealed to the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa.

Issues

  1. Whether each of two persons who independently inflicted inevitably fatal injuries on a living victim can be convicted of murder.
  2. Whether the doctrine of common intention applied to the facts of this case.

Orders

  • Appeals dismissed.

Rules and key headnotes

Murder — Multiple Fatal Injuries — Independent Assaults
Every person who inflicts on a living person an inevitably fatal injury with the intention to kill or to cause grievous bodily harm is guilty of murder, even where another person subsequently inflicts a separate inevitably fatal injury before death occurs.
Murder — Causation — Concurrent Fatal Injuries
Where two accused persons each inflict on a living victim an inevitably fatal injury, each must be held equally guilty of murder regardless of which injury would have caused death first, provided the victim was alive when each injury was inflicted.
Murder — Distinction from Cases Where First Injury Not Independently Fatal
The case is distinguishable from situations where injuries from a first assault might possibly have caused death only by reason of further injury inflicted subsequently, where it cannot be proved that the first injuries would of themselves have caused death without the further injury.

Cases cited (3)

  • Rex v Okute and Another (8 E.A.C.A. 78)
  • Rex v Mohamed bin Ali (Criminal Appeal No. 132 of 1935)
  • Rex v Paulo Shimanyolang and Another (5 E.A.C.A. 135)

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Rex v Enyaju and Another (Criminal Appeals Nos. 15 and 16 of 1945) [1945] EACA 8 (1 January 1945)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.