Joseph s/o Michael v. R., Crim. App. 883-D-69; 11/2/70; Makame, Ag. J.

Joseph s/o Michael v. R., Crim. App. 883-D-69; 11/2/70; Makame, Ag. J.

The appellant was convicted of being in possession of property suspected to have been stolen c/s 312, Penal Code.

            Held: (1) Appeal allowed for a variety of reasons. (2) “For the future guidance of the learned trial magistrate, when a person is charged under section 312 of the Penal Code, before the magistrate can properly convict him he must make a finding on the following matters:- (i) that the accused was in fact detained under section 24 of the Criminal Procedure Code; (ii) that when he was detained he was in the course of a journey (whether in a street, in a building or on private land); (iii) that at the time when he was detained he had the particular thing in his possession, that is, with him; (iv) that the thing was of such a nature or the circumstances were such that it might reasonably be suspected of having been stolen or unlawfully obtained; and (v) that the accused has refused to give an account to the court, or has given an account which is so improbable as to be unreasonable, or has given an account which has been repudiated by the prosecution (see Kionda Hamisi v. the Republic: Dar es Salaam Criminal Appeal No. 82 of 1963).