AUTOMATISM

Question 1

DEFINITION

Answer 1

‘An act done by the muscles without any control by the mind, such as a spasm, a reflex action or a convulsion; or an act done by a person who is not conscious of what he is doing ‘ (Bratty v AG for NI)

Question 2

WITHOUT ANY CONTROL BY THE MIND

Answer 2

D must act completely without consciousness or control
(AGs Ref 2 of 1993) ‘ there must be a total destruction of voluntary control’

Question 3

THERE MUST BE AN EXTERNAL CAUSE

Answer 3

The cause automatism must be external to the D
- swarm of bees (Hill v Baxter)
- PTSD (R v T)
- sneezing (Whooley)
- condition of driving ‘without awareness’ ‘trance like state’ (Attorney- General’s Reference No2)
Effect of drug (Bailey)

Question 4

AUTOMATISM MUST NOT BE SELF-INDUCED

Answer 4

Automatism will fail where D knows his conduct is likely to bring on an automatic state (Bailey)
- where basic intent crimes are concerned, automatism may fail if D realises the risk (Hardie)
- state of automatism comes about from D’s own involuntary intoxication; intoxication rules apply and defence likely to fail (Coley)