Lord Porter.:-

The appellant in this case is a duly qualified medical practitioner who carried on practice in Nigeria. On 7th March 1941 he was charged before the Assistant Judge at Umudhia Sessions of the High Court of the Enugu-Onitsha Division in the Protectorate of Nigeria on three charges : (i) Manslaughter, contrary to S. 325 of the Criminal Code, in killing one Kalu Ibe in May 1940. (ii) Reckless and negligent acts contrary to S. 343 (1) (e) of the said Code in giving medical treatment to the said Kalu in a manner so rash or negligent as to endanger human life or to be likely to cause harm (iii) Reckless and negligent acts contrary to S. 343 (1) (f) of the said Code in dispensing or administering medicine or poisonous or dangerous matter to the said Kalu.

The learned Assistant Judge who tried the case without a jury found the appellant not guilty on the second count but guilty on the first and third counts, sentenced him on the first charge to three years' imprisonment with hard labour and on the third to a fine of £100 or 12 months imprisonment with hard labour to run concurrently with the punishment awarded on the other charge, and refused bail pending an appeal. On appeal,