chapter 4- involuntary manslaughter

Question 1

DPP v Newbury and Jones

Answer 1

-D’s were boys who pushed a paving stone onto a train line
-stone hit train and killed the guard
-boys convicted as they committed the crime of criminal damage to the line intending to damage the line
(mens rea of unlawful act manslaughter)

Question 2

R v Lamb

Answer 2

-D and friends were messing around with a gun
-they thought the gun wouldn’t fire a bullet
-Lamb pointed it at a friend, pulled the trigger and killed him
-Not guilty as friend didn’t fear violence so not a crime
(actus reus of unlawful act manslaughter)

Question 3

R v Lowe

Answer 3

-D wilfully neglected his baby son and consequently he died
-Jury told that as neglect is a crime, D would be guilty of unlawful act manslaughter
-Conviction quashed as neglect is an omission
(unlawful act)

Question 4

R v Larkin

Answer 4

-D threatened another man with a knife
-Mistress tried to intervene and accidentally fell on the blade and died
-Act of holding a knife to threaten was a technical assault and likely to injure someone
(Dangerous act ULAM)

Question 5

R v Goodfellow

Answer 5

-D set fire to flat so council would rehouse him
-Lead to the death of his wife, son and another lady
-As he committed the crime of arson, he was convicted of unlawful act manslaughter
(Act against property and some harm ULAM)

Question 6

R v Dawson

Answer 6

-D’s attempted to rob a petrol station armed with pickaxes in masks
-Caused the attendant to have a heart attack
-This fear wasn’t enough to make a robbery a dangerous act
(Physical harm ULAM)

Question 7

R v Cato

Answer 7

-D injected v with heroin
-As v didn’t self-inject, D committed the act which was both unlawful and dangerous as it caused v’s death
(causing death ULAM)

Question 8

R v Dalby

Answer 8

-D supplied v, who self-injected and died
-supply of drugs didn’t cause death do D successfully appealed
(causing death ULAM)

Question 9

R v Kennedy

Answer 9

-D prepared injection
-V self-injected
-HoL held self-injection was an intervening act and broke the chain of causation
(causing death ULAM)

Question 10

R v Bateman

Answer 10

-D was a doctor attending a homebirth
-During birth, part of v’s uterus came away
-D didn’t send V to hospital
-V later died
-D’s conviction was quashed as he had conducted normal checks and procedures so he hadn’t been grossly negligent
(mens rea of gross negligence manslaughter)

Question 11

R v Adomako

Answer 11

-D was an anaesthetist
-During operation he failed to notice oxygen tube was disconnected and the patient had a heart attack
-V died 6 months later from brain damage
-expert witnesses said the failure to notice was ‘abysmal’
-Convicted of gross negligence manslaughter
(gross negligence manslaughter= actus reus and adomako principles)

Question 12

Caparo v Dickman

Answer 12

-Civil principles for duty of care comes from this case;
* proximity of relationship
*reasonably foreseeable
*fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty of care
(duty of care GNM)

Question 13

R v Singh

Answer 13

-D was landlord of V
-faulty gas fire caused the death of the tenants
-Landlord had a duty to manage the property
(Duty of care GNM)

Question 14

R v Wacker

Answer 14

-D agreed to bring 60 illegal migrants into England in the back of a lorry
-V’s suffocated
-58 migrants died
-CofA held D knew the safety of the migrants depended on his actions and therefore he assumed a duty of care by transporting them
-Conviction upheld
(Duty of care GNM)

Question 15

R v Evans

Answer 15

-V was a heroin addict
-mother and half-sister didn’t get help when v overdosed on the heroin supplied by the sister
-Half-sister appealed that she didn’t owe a duty of care
-CofA held she created a state of affairs in which she ought to have known was life threatening to the V
(duty of care by creating a state of affairs)

Question 16

R v Stone and Dobinson

Answer 16

-V was stone’s sister
-Stone and dobinson looked after v, who had an eating disorder and died after D’s didn’t get medical help
-Brother breached his duty of care for his sister
-His friend volunteered to look after her too, so also breached a duty
(Duty of care due to relationship/ volunteering)

Question 17

R v Mirsa and Srivastava

Answer 17

-V had an operation
-Dr’s failed to notice an infection and v died
-The dr’s appealed their conviction under ECHR as the law was unclear
-However, the CofA held that Adomako principles is the law
(Risk of death)

Question 18

R v Mitchell

Answer 18

-Elderly man and man got into an argument about queue jumping
-Elderly man was punched and fell back onto others in the queue
-Including an old lady who fell and broke her leg
-She died
(Unlawful act manslaughter criticisms)