The plaintiff claimed damages in the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos from the 1st and 2nd defendants jointly and severally for damage done to the plaintiff's shop and articles therein as a result of the negligent driving of the 1st defendant's taxi cab. At the trial, the learned trial Chief Magistrate accepted the plaintiff's evidence which was that she was in her shop sleeping when at about 11 p.m., she was woken up by a heavy bang caused by the taxi cab crashing against the walls of her shop. The taxi cab had left the main road, crossed a two-feet drain, to hit the plaintiff's shop which was three feet away from the drain. The driver of the taxi cab, that is the 1st defendant, gave no evidence, nor was there in fact any other evidence in regard to the cause of the accident.

The defence of the appellant (2nd defendant) was however that he hired the cab to one Solomon Gbadegesin under a hire purchase agreement which he ten¬dered as Exhibit E. He also said that he kept a record of the transaction between him and Solomon Gbadegesin, and he tendered this record as Exhibit F. He de¬nied knowledge of the 1st defendant and said he did not even know who the driver of the taxi cab was on the day of the accident.

The court found for the plaintiff and the 2nd defendant appealed to the High Court which dismissed his appeal. On further appeal to the Supreme Court, the 2nd defendant appellant submitted that the real issue in the case was whether the learned Judge on appeal could consider, on his own, the case the 2nd defendant put forward in certain documents which the trial court failed to consider.