STRATIS v POLICE No. SCGRG-98-907 Judgment No. S6886

The appeal against the conviction of the appellant for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, which occurred at the Planet Nightclub, was heard by Wicks J. The incident involved the appellant, who was celebrating his brother’s birthday, and Mr Christo Dimoglides, who was at the nightclub with his girlfriend and friends. The altercation began when Mr Dimoglides and his friend playfully wrestled, inadvertently bumping into a third person. This led to an exchange of words, resulting in the appellant pushing the third person, followed by a series of punches that left Mr Dimoglides severely injured. The appellant claimed that he only pushed the individual and did not punch him, and that any further injuries were caused by the appellant’s brother.

The legal issues before the court included whether the charge and conviction were bad for duplicity and uncertainty, and whether the learned magistrate erred in refusing to order the prosecution counsel to elect which blow was relied upon as constituting the assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The court considered the concept of latent duplicity and whether the incident should be treated as a single act of assault or separate incidents. The court found that the charge contained in the information was intended to cover the blow administered to Mr Dimoglides while he was being escorted to the toilet, and that there was no evidence of the identity of the assailant in respect of this assault. Therefore, the conviction could not stand due to latent duplicity.

Given the conclusion on the duplicity issue, the court did not find it necessary to discuss the other grounds of appeal. The court allowed the appeal, quashed the conviction, and dismissed the charge. The court considered that while there was sufficient evidence for a new trial, the considerable delay and discrepancies in witness testimonies due to the incident occurring in a crowded and dimly lit environment at 3:00 am made it inappropriate to order a new trial.