Causation (Cases) Flashcards
R v White 1910
The defendant poisoned his mother’s milk and she died soon after; however, the cause of her death was cardiac arrest and not the result of the poison. Factual causation (but for)
R v Dalloway 1847
The defendant was driving a horse and cart down a road without holding on to the reins. A child ran in front of the cart and was killed. The defendant was not liable as he would not have been able to stop the cart in time even if he had been holding the reins.
Legal causation - culpable act
Novus actus interveniens
There is no other act that breaks the chain of causation. For this new act to break the chain of causation it must be an unforeseeable act.
Legal causation
Multiple factors of a crime. No new act was substantial enough to for example, cause a death. The original act is most substantial, then still liable.
R v Pagett 1983
A man used a girl as a shield and shot at police officers. She was shot and killed. The man was liable.
Third party intervening act
R v Roberts 1971
A woman jumped out of the car of a stranger as he persistently made sexual remarks and threats against her. She suffered a concussion, cuts, and bruises. He was made liable for actual bodily harm.
The act of a victim - intervening act
R v Cheshire 1991
A man was shot and given a tracheotomy. His wounds healed but he gained complications from the tracheotomy and died. The man who shot him was convicted.
Medical intervention - intervening act
Natural events
A man is struck and left outside on a beach. The tide washes him away and he is killed. The defendant is held liable. R v Hart
Thin skull test
Take the victim as you find them (with medical conditions, for example)
R v Blaue 1975
A woman was stabbed multiple times and required a blood transfusion to survive. As a Jehovah’s Witness, she refused the treatment and died. Blaue was held liable.
