Ehelepola v. Officer In Charge, Police Station, Kandy and Another – sllr 1998 volume 1 page 295

In the case between Ehelepola (the 2nd accused-appellant) and the Officer-in-Charge, Police Station, Kandy, the court addressed the issue of whether an underground cable drum owned by Sri Lanka Telecom constituted “public property” under the Offences Against Public Property Act, No. 12 of 1982, and whether the appellant’s conviction for theft was sustainable in the absence of direct evidence of his physical participation. The holding established that the cable drum in question met the definition of public property and that, although unsworn dock statements are admissible, errors in the treatment of such evidence by the Magistrate required correction. The court reaffirmed that unsworn statements from the dock are to be considered as evidence, subject to judicial weighting, and reliance was