06 Killing: II Mitigating, Excusing and Justifying Homicide: Self Defence and Loss of Control

Question 1

What are the 6 Requirements of Self-Defence?

Answer 1

1. The victim must pose a threat
2. The threat must be unjustified (not unlawful)
3. The use of force must be necessary
4. The degree of force must be necessary - Beckford [1988]
5. The degree of force must be necessary - Clegg [1995]
6. The defendant must be acting to defend himself, another or property

Question 2

What if the Defendant believed they were being attacked?

Answer 2

• The defendant is judged on the facts as he believed them to be
• In Beckford [1988] it was found that the jury must determine based on the facts as they believed them to be whether the force was reasonable
• Hatton [2005] found that if a drunk defendant mistakenly believed they were being attacked they could not rely on self-defence

Question 3

Do self-induced situations bar self-defence?

Answer 3

• Not necessarily - Keane [2010]
• The jury must decide whether the use of force was reasonable given the fact that they began the fight - Rashford [2005]

Question 4

What are the elements of loss of control?

Answer 4

1. The defendant lost self control
2. The loss of self control was caused by a qualifying trigger
3. A person of the defendant’s age and sex with a normal degree of tolerance and self-restraint would have acted in the same way

Question 5

Is loss of control a defence to attempted murder?

Answer 5

No

Question 6

Does the loss of self control need to be sudden?

Answer 6

No, according to Dawes [2013] - important in battered wife cases

There must still be the mens rea for murder

Question 7

What are the 2 Qualifying triggers and which act are they from?

Answer 7

• Coroners and Justice Act 2009 - S.55
  1. Fear of Serious Violence
  2. Circumstances of a seriously grave nature and a Sense of Being seriously wronged

Question 8

What are the facts of Clinton [2012] and why is this case important?

Answer 8

• The wife told the husband she had been having an affair. He said he would commit suicide. She said he did not have the balls and he lost control and killed her.
• The case was not pure sexual infidelity as this would not have been a qualifying trigger