“Counsel, at the instance of the Court, sought leave to delete the words “weight of evidence” in that ground of appeal. In the light of Aladesuru v. The Queen, [1956] A.C. 49, it was pointed out that the words “weight of evidence” are not applicable in criminal appeals. This Court would like to stress the point that a criminal appeal on the facts is not quite the same as an appeal on the facts in a civil case. In a civil appeal the general ground is that the judgment is against the weight of evidence, whilst in a criminal appeal it is that the verdict is unreasonable or cannot be supported having regard to the evidence: see the Federal Supreme Court Act, 1960, Section 26(1), and the Federal Supreme Court Rules, 1961, Order VII Rule 2. It is clear that unless there is some evidence to support it, the verdict in a criminal case cannot stand. The other test is whether a reasonable tribunal or jury, if they appreciated the evidence rightly and applied the law appropriate to the case, could have returned the verdict. This is the light in which a criminal appeal on the facts should be argued and approached.”
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