Mutambo and others V the People (1965) ZR 15 Facts

Case Summary: Mutambo and Others V the People (1965) ZR 15

• The case involves the death of Derek Smith, a European Inspector of Police, who was stabbed on July 24, 1964, while leading a police patrol at Chapaula Village, a village established by the Lumpa Church.

Circumstances of the Incident

• The police patrol was investigating an alleged refusal of admission of a kapasu and two Boma messengers to the village on the previous day.
• The patrol was armed with rifles, a revolver, and a bayonet.
• As the patrol approached the village, a man and a woman were seen and chased by the police, but they escaped.
• The woman ran through the gate into the village, followed by the Inspector and some other police.

Attack on the Police

• The Inspector was stabbed in the back with a fishing spear near a house.
• A shout of 'Jericho' was raised, and a number of men, armed with spears and axes, and a woman armed with a machete, rushed out towards the police.
• One of the other police received a spear wound in the arm.
• Some of the police opened fire upon the oncoming villagers, resulting in some of them being shot.

Pursuit and Fatal Attack on the Inspector

• The police, led by the Inspector, who still had the spear stuck in his back, and had lost his rifle, ran out of the village, pursued by the men.
• After running about a hundred yards from the village, the Inspector fell down and was stabbed by the villagers with spears.

Post-Mortem Examination

• The Provincial Medical Officer, Kasama, performed a post-mortem examination on Inspector Smith's body.
• The examination revealed numerous wounds, including two wounds in the mouth, one in the left cheek, a wound on the back of the head, two wounds on the back of the right side of the chest, a wound on the right hip, and a wound on the left leg.
• The medical officer concluded that these wounds were inflicted by spears and caused shock and hemorrhage, leading to death.
• The examination also showed that the body had thirty-four other wounds inflicted by spears after death.

Legal Considerations

• The appellants were convicted under Section 22 of the Penal Code, which concerns common intention.
• The defence of mistake was raised under Section 11 of the Penal Code.
• To bring an appellant within Section 22, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant formed a common intention with others to prosecute an unlawful purpose, and that the offence was a probable consequence of that purpose.