REPUBLIC
V.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL, EX PARTE ABBEY

AMUAH JA.: This is an appeal against the ruling of the High Court, Sekondi dated 27 January 1992, for refusing to grant an order of certiorari to quash the conviction and sentence imposed on the appellant in 1964. The brief facts of the case are as follows: On 7 September 1964, the appellant was convicted on two charges namely, attempted stealing and stealing of a cheque leaf of a customer of the Bank of West Africa (now Standard Chartered Bank) by the Takoradi Circuit Court, and sentenced on the first charge to twelve pounds or in default one month imprisonment with hard labour, on the second charge to a day's imprisonment and a fine of forty pounds or in default to two months imprisonment with hard labour. The fines were paid. The facts on which the prosecution relied to establish their case were not recorded and all attempts to obtain this information from the police or court dockets failed because the dockets could not be traced. The convictions stood against him; he did not appea…