LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CRIMINAL LAW – Defences – Accident – Unavailable Where Acts Are Deliberate and Intentional
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
There was no evidence of self-defence, provocation or accident with which the appellant could avail himself. The two courts below considered those defences and rejected them. I have no doubt that the appellant intended to kill the deceased when he went straight for his neck and fatally attacked it.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Uwaifo, JSC, in Ubani v. State (2001) NLC-2072000(SC) at pp. 2–3; Paras E–A.
"There was no evidence of self-defence, provocation or accident with which the appellant could avail himself. The two courts below considered those defences and rejected them. I have no doubt that the appellant intended to kill the deceased when he went straight for his neck and fatally attacked it."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Accident is unavailable when the acts are deliberate and intentional. If the accused intentionally attacked a vital part of the body (e.g., the neck), the resulting death is not accidental. Accident involves a voluntary act resulting in an event neither intended nor foreseen. Deliberate targeting of a vital part negates accident. The defence of accident requires that the consequence was not foreseeable. Attacking the neck with fatal force makes death foreseeable. The trial court’s rejection of accident will be upheld if supported by evidence. The appellant must show that the act was not intended to cause harm. Deliberate violence precludes accident.
