CRIMINAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – appeal – second appeal – accused was charged, convicted and sentenced on four counts of robbery with violence – first appeal against conviction and sentence quashed – Penal Code section 296(2)

EVIDENCE – identification – accused contends that the source of light at the time of the robbery was insufficient for the witnesses to successfully identify him – whether a subsequent identification during an identification parade can sustain a conviction

EVIDENCE – confession – retraction of – where the accused claims that the confession made was under duress – proof of – factors the court considers in such applications – validity of order

CRIMINAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – appeal – second appeal – where the accused was charged and convicted of the crime of robbery with violence – appellate court – duty of first appellate court - whether the first appellate court discharged its duty to reconsider the evidence – Penal Code section 296(2)

EVIDENCE – identification – dock identification – where the witnesses only identified the accused person at the dock – whether such identification can be relied on to sustain a conviction

EVIDENCE – corroboration – where there was no medical evidence to corroborate the prosecution evidence that the wounds on the accused were occasioned by bullets – effect of – whether such evidence can sustain a conviction

Criminal law - robbery with violence - alternative charge of handling stolen property - where an accused person is convicted on the main charge, the usual practice is to make no finding on the alternative charge so that on appeal, if the main charge is found not to have been proved, then the appeal court can substitute a conviction for the alternative charge - second appeal against conviction and sentence of death - Penal Code section 296(2), section 322(2)

Criminal Practice and Procedure - prosecutor - persons who are authorised in law to conduct a public prosecution - police officer not qualified to be a prosecutor appearing in court on four occasions during the mention of a case - whether the appearance of the police officer meant that the trial had been conducted by an unqualified person - distinction between a hearing and a mention - Criminal Procedure Code section 85

Criminal law - murder - three counts of murder - mother charged with the murder of her children - appeal against conviction and sentence of death on two counts - re-evaluation of the evidence - case against the appellant resting entirely on circumstantial evidence - definition of circumstantial evidence - test which such evidence needs to satisfy in order for it to form a basis for a conviction - whether the High Court had correctly dealt with the alibi defence raised by the appellant - Penal Code sections 203, 204

Criminal law - murder - appeal against conviction and sentence of death - re-evaluation of the evidence - contradictions in the evidence of the prosecution - whether the contradictions were material - whether the charge had been proved against the appellant - Penal Code sections 203, 204

Criminal law - murder - three accused persons convicted of the lesser offence of manslaughter - appeal against conviction and sentence of imprisonment for 20 years - appeal against sentences - appellants having been in custody for 7 years before the date of sentencing - duty of the trial court to consider that factor - all appellants being first offenders - whether the sentences were harsh and excessive - Penal Code sections 202, 203, 204