Arson (Danger to life) Flashcards
Section
Section 276(1)(a), Crimes Act 1961
Penalty
14 years
Ingredients
1) Intentionally or Recklessly
2) Damages by fire OR Damages by means of explosive
3) Any property
4) If he or she knows or Ought to know that danger to life is likely to ensue
Intent (finish the sentence)
A person does something “intentionally” if they means to do it;
they desire a specific results and act with the aim or purpose of achieving it.
Acting recklessly involves:
- Consciously AND
- Deliberately
- Taking an unjustifiable risk
Damages by fire
Although fire damage will often involve burning or charring, it is not necessary that the property is actually set alight. Melting, blistering of paint or significant smoke damage may be sufficient.
Types of damages caused by fire
- Burning
- Charring
- Melting
- Blistering of paint
- Smoke damage
Explosive-Act & Section
Section 2, Arms Act 1983
Explosive
Any substance or mixture or a combination of substances which in its normal state is capable either of decomposition at such rapid rate as to result in an explosion or of producing a pyrotechnic effect.
Explosive includes
- Gun powder
- Gelignite
- Detonators
Explosive excludes
- Firearms
- Fireworks
Property includes
- Any real or personal propety
- Any estate or interest in any real or personal property
- Money
- Electricity
- any debt
- Anything in Action
- Any other right of interest
Knowledge
Knowing means “knowing or correcting believing”
Simester and Brookbanks
The defendant can believe something wrongly, but cannot “know” something that is false.
Life
Life in this context means human life, and the danger must be to the life of someone other than the defendant.
R v Harney (recklessness)
Recklessness involves “foresight of dangerous consequences that would well happen, together with the intention to continue the course of conduct regardless or the risk. “
R v Archer
Property may be damaged if it suffers permanent or temporary physical harm or permanent or temporary impairment of its use or value.
R v Morley
Loss is assessed by the extent in which the complainants position prior to the offence has been diminished or impaired.
R v Harpur
The court may have regard to the conduct being viewed cumulatively, up until the conduct in question stops. The Defendants conduct may be viewed in its entirety…considering how much remains to be done is always relevant but not determinative.
Examples of explosives
Arms Act 1983, Section 2
- Gunpowder
- nitroglycerine
- Dynamite
- gun-cotton
- Fog signals
- Fuses
- Rockets
- percussion caps
- detonators
- cartridges
- ammunition
Explosive also includes
Arms Act 1983, Section 2
any device, contrivance, or article, which uses any substance or mixture or combination of substances to which paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this definition applies as an integral part of it for the purposes of producing an explosion or a ballistic or pyrotechnic effect;
What test are applied for “knows or ought to know”
Subject test-what was the defendant thinking at the time? Did the defendant know that human life was likely to be endangered by his actions?
If insufficent evidence that the Defendant was conscious of the risk then apply the object test.
Objective test-what would a reasonable person have thought in the same circumstances? Would a reasonable person have recognised the risk?
