Actus Reus Flashcards
Conduct crime
the prohibited conduct is enough
Result crime
the prohibited conduct must cause a particular result, giving one possible result
State of affairs crime
the defendant may be found liable even if they did not purposefully or voluntarily commit a criminal act
R v Larsonneur - french woman deported into England against her will and then was charged with the offence of ‘being’ an illegal alien
Actus must be voluntary
Hill v Baxter - if a driver has been struck by a stone, overcome by a sudden illness (sneezing fit) or been attacked by a swarm of bees, then he or she is not liable for a crime.
Leicester v Pearson - car was hit by another car onto a pedestrian crossing
R v Woolley - sneezing fit, lost control of lorry
R v Mitchell
Omission
No legal responsibility to rescue someone, generally not liability for an omission unless you owe a duty of care
Contractual duty
R v Pittwood - was a railway-crossing keeper and failed to shut the gates, resulting in a person getting struck and dying
Voluntary assumption of responsibility
R v Stone and Dobinson - man didn’t take responsibility of his sister who didn’t eat and later died
Statutory duty
Failure to report road traffic accident
Public position
R v Dytham - police officer stood an watched as a bouncer kicked a man to death
Failure to minimise harmful consequences of your actions
DPP v Santa-Bermudez - man didn’t tell the police officer about the needle in his pocket, the police officer got stabbed in the hand
R v Miller - fell aleep with a lit cigarette, woke up and noticed a fire and did nothing about it, just moved to another room
R v Evans - gave her half-sister heroin but did nothing when they saw signs of an overdose, they left the sister and she died
Special relationships/Parental responsibility
R v Gibbins and Proctor - father starved his 7 year old daughter ad she died as a result
