Criminal Law Revision

Question 1

The test for loss of control is that the defendant must lose control, there must be a qualifying trigger, and a person who shares the defendant’s characteristics would react in the same way

Question 2

Offences of strict liability do not require any intent on the part of the defendant for the defendant to be guilty

Question 3

The evidential burden falls on the party who must raise the elements, whether elements of the offence or defence. The legal burden falls on the party who must prove those elements.

Question 4

A defendant is guilty of aggravated burglary if he commits any burglary and at the time has with him any weapon, imitation firearm, or explosive. An offender must have the weapon when he enters the building; it cannot be something he picks up whilst inside.

Question 5

Sleeping tablets to drug an individual inside a building would be among the prohibited items that would lead to an aggravated burglary charge

Question 6

For theft and robbery there is no requirement that the property taken must belong to the victim; if the victim was in possession of the property taken that is sufficient (even if it was stolen property)

Question 7

Burglary can be committed at the point of entry. A defendant commits burglary when they enter a building or part of a building as a trespasser with the intention to commit theft, grievous bodily harm, or criminal damage and while knowing that they are a trespasser. The defendant does not have to actually carry out the underlying offence; he just needs to have the intent

Question 8

The statutory description of dishonesty specifically states that an appropriation of property belonging to another may be dishonest even if the person may be willing to pay for the item

Question 9

Grievous bodily harm is either a wounding that requires a breaking of the skin or ‘serious bodily harm’. Courts have found losing consciousness and psychiatric evidence as falling into this category.

Question 10

Self-defence is a complete defence and would result in an acquittal

Question 11

For joint enterprise to be satisfied and for a co-defendant to be held liable as a principal, they must intend to assist or encourage the principal in the commission of the offence charged. For murder, the mens rea is an intention to kill or cause serious harm. Therefore, the defendant will be liable under joint enterprise only if they intended to assist or encourage in killing or committing serious harm.

Question 12

The test for recklessness is largely subjective: Did the defendant foresee the risk of the harm occurring, and, in the circumstances known to the defendant, was it an unreasonable risk to take?

Question 13

Voluntary intoxication cannot negate the mens rea of basic intent offences, but it can negate the mens rea of specific intent offences.

Question 14

Offences of basic intent are those which can be committed either intentionally or recklessly

Question 15

Specific intent offences cannot be committed recklessly; intention is required for the offence to be committed

Question 16

Criminal damage is a basic intent offence

Question 17

Theft is a specific intent offence

Question 18

Private citizens, organisations, and even charities (for example, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) can also prosecute crimes

Question 19

A person commits criminal damage when they destroy or damage property belonging to another, intending to do so or being reckless as to whether the property is damaged. Damage is anything that is more than minimal impairment of usefulness or value. It is unlikely to amount to criminal damage if there has been no expense and little effort involved in restoring the item to its former state

Question 20

In English law, a party cannot conspire to commit or encourage an offence against himself.

Question 21

The actus reus of s20 GBH is to wound or cause serious harm. A wound requires that both layers of skin are broken

Question 22

It is not possible to consent to injury unless an exception such as surgery, body modification, or sport applies

Question 23

Attempt is a specific intent crime; to be guilty of attempt, one must intend to cause the underlying crime. The mens rea for attempted murder is intention to kill.

Question 24

Unlawful act manslaughter is a form of involuntary manslaughter that arises when (1) the defendant’s act is unlawful, (2) the unlawful act is deliberate, (3) there is a risk of harm, and (4) the unlawful act causes the death of the victim.

Question 25

Voluntary manslaughter arises when the defendant has a partial defence to murder (for example, diminished responsibility), but the actus reus and the mens rea of murder are made out

Question 26

Murder is not a basic intent crime.

Question 27

A basic intent crime is one that can be committed not only if the defendant intended to undertake the prohibited act, but also if the defendant was merely reckless in acting.

Question 28

Aggravated burglary is committed when a burglar enters and at the time has with him a weapon, imitation firearm, or any explosive. An item will be considered a weapon if it is made or adapted to cause injury or to incapacitate a person, or if the defendant intended to have it with him for such use.

Question 29

When property is given as a present it becomes the recipient’s property; the person who gave the gift cannot then simply take it back whenever they want.

Question 30

A person taking property belonging to another can include a co-owner stealing from the other co-owner. The fact that the property is shared does not prevent it from belonging to another

Question 31

The evidential burden is the burden of producing enough evidence to bring the matter into issue between the prosecution and the defence

Question 32

The test for legal causation is whether it is the substantial and operative cause of the prohibited outcome

Question 33

Murder can be committed with direct intention or indirect intention

Question 34

What are the elements of the actus reus of murder?

Answer 34

Death of a human being

Factual causation

Legal causation

Question 35

Involuntary manslaughter does not require the mens rea for murder to be satisfied

Question 36

A positive act is required for unlawful act manslaughter but is not required for gross negligence manslaughter.

Question 37

Fear of physical contact is NOT required to make out a prima facie case for assault.

Question 38

Shaking someone’s hand could constitute battery if there is no consent

Question 39

Describe the mens rea of the offence of actual bodily harm

Answer 39

Intentionally or recklessly applying unlawful force onto another or causing another to apprehend the application of immediate unlawful violence

Question 40

Bruises, scratches, and psychiatric injuries are sufficient injuries to make out a prima facie case for s47 assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Question 41

Describe the mens rea of the offence of s20 wounding or causing grievous bodily harm

Answer 41

Intention to cause some harm or recklessness regarding the risk of causing some harm

Question 42

The injury required to make out a prima facie case for s18 wounding or causing grievous bodily harm with intent is the same as for s20 wounding or causing grievous bodily harm. No more serious injury is required and the difference is in the intention required

Question 43

To make out a prima facie case for criminal damage, the property damaged must be physical property (for example, not a copyright), but wild plants are excluded

Question 44

Aggravated criminal damage requires that the defendant intended to endanger life by the damage to the property (or was reckless as to the danger)

Question 45

A person who aids, abets, counsels, or procures another in committing a crime can be charged as principle offenders

Question 46

Under the doctrine of joint enterprise, to be criminally liable the participant must intend that the principal will commit the offence

Question 47

The offence of conspiracy requires the agreement of two or more persons to commit an offence and is completed at this point, no further action is required to be guilty of the offence

Question 48

A conspiracy will be committed if the intended offence is factually impossible

Question 49

A defendant can rely on self-defence if they believed force was necessary, and the amount of force was reasonable in the circumstances as they believed them to be. There are two limbs to the defence of self-defence. The first is the trigger: Did the defendant believe the use of force was necessary? This is a subjective test. The second limb of the test is the response: Was the amount of force used reasonable in the circumstances as the defendant believed them to be? This part of the test is objective.

Question 50

Self-defence can be used in protection of oneself, another, or property

Question 51

Spouses cannot conspire together as a matter of law

Question 52

Aggravated burglary requires the burglar to have a weapon with them at the time of the burglary

Question 53

A burglary can arise from knowingly or recklessly entering a building or part of a building as a trespasser with the intent to steal, inflict great bodily harm, or cause criminal damage.

Question 54

Robbery is the taking of another person’s property through use of force or by putting the victim in fear.

Question 55

The court generally must follow the sentencing guidelines, which offer a starting point for each offence and list aggravating and mitigating factors. Some factors (like racial aggravation or the offence having been committed on bail) must be taken into account, but other factors may be taken into account by the court. Intoxication is an aggravating factor that may be taken into account.

Question 56

If the defendant has no previous convictions, they are entitled to have the judge give a good character direction to the jury. A good character direction consists of two parts: the propensity direction and the credibility direction. The propensity direction is that a person of good character is less likely to have committed this offence. The credibility direction is that a person of good character is more likely to be credible when they assert their innocence either before or during trial.

Question 57

In battery, no injury need be caused

Question 58

A person commits fraud by false representation if he dishonestly makes a false representation and intends, in doing so, to make a gain for himself or cause a risk of loss to another.

Question 59

Normally, murder requires an intent to kill or cause grievous bodily injury. However, where the result (death or serious injury) is a virtually certain consequence of conduct and the defendant foresees it is a virtually certain outcome, intent may be implied from the conduct under the concept of indirect intent.

Question 60

Unlawful act manslaughter requires an act that is intentional, unlawful, and dangerous that causes the death of the victim. To be ‘unlawful’, there must be an underlying criminal offence.

Question 61

For self-defence in householder cases the force will be considered reasonable so long as it is not grossly disproportionate.

Question 62

An honest belief in the consent of the owner is a defence to criminal damage.

Question 63

ABH encompasses an assault or battery that causes actual bodily harm. A defendant commits assault when they intentionally or recklessly cause another person to apprehend immediate, unlawful violence. Silent telephone calls are sufficient to satisfy this requirement.

Question 64

Diagnosed mental health issues like depression can satisfy the requirement of actual bodily harm

Question 65

Voluntary manslaughter is when a defendant would normally be convicted of murder but has a partial defence, which results in them being convicted of manslaughter instead. The two main partial defences are loss of control and diminished responsibility.

Question 66

Under the concept of indirect intent, a defendant is held to intend a consequence (indirectly) when that consequence is a virtually certain consequence of their actions, and they foresaw that it was a virtually certain consequence. Both elements need to be present,

Question 67

The mens rea for murder is intention to kill or cause serious harm. This can be satisfied by direct intention (aim or purpose) or by indirect intention. Indirect intention requires the outcome to be a virtual certainty and for the defendant to foresee that the outcome is a virtual certainty.

Question 68

Aggravated arson has all the elements of ordinary arson, but there is an additional mens rea requirement that the defendant must intend or be reckless as to the endangerment of life by the damage caused to the property.

Question 69

The mere knowledge that a person sometimes commits crimes is not a sufficient basis for imposing criminal liability on anyone who unknowingly helps the person commit a crime

Question 70

A basic intent crime is one that can be committed either intentionally or recklessly.

Question 71

A person commits criminal damage when they destroy or damage property belonging to another, intending to do so or being reckless as to whether the property is damaged. Damage is anything that is more than minimal impairment of usefulness or value. If there is no expense and little effort involved in restoring the blouse to its former state, the impairment to usefulness or value has been minimal.

Question 72

Voluntary intoxication can negate mens rea for only specific intent offences.

Question 73

A third party intervention will only break the chain of causation if the act is free, deliberate, and informed.

Question 74

If a defendant wants to claim that they acted in self-defence, they must raise the defence, so the evidential burden lies there.

Question 75

For aggravated burglary the offender must have the weapon when they enter the building; it cannot be something they pick up whilst inside.

Question 76

Private citizens, organisations, and even charities can prosecute crimes.

Question 77

An innocent agent is not guilty of a crime. An innocent agent is one who unknowingly aids in an offence. For example, if the thief had asked his friend to deliver a package to a woman and the friend did so thinking the package contained candy rather than the illegal drugs it did contain, the innocent agent in that case is not criminally liable.

Question 78

Rubbish that has been thrown away continues to belong to the original owner until it is collected by the rubbish collection company, at which point it belongs to the rubbish collection company. So even items that have been thrown away are not abandoned

Question 79

Manslaughter is a basic intent offence

Question 80

There are defences to strict liability crimes e.g. negating the facts required for the crime

Question 81

A player consents to not only any injury incurred within the rules of the game, but also any unintentional injury occurring just outside the rules of the game.

Question 82

Wounding or causing GBH requires something akin to a stab wound or a broken bone.

Question 83

Bruising is a sufficient injury for a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm

Question 84

A victim own behaviour will break the chain of causation only where it is so daft as to be unforeseeable.

Question 85

The test for medical treatment breaking the chain of causation: if it is free, deliberate, and informed.

Question 86

Involuntary manslaughter is less culpable than voluntary manslaughter

Question 87

Involuntary manslaughter: gross negligence manslaughter and unlawful act manslaughter

Question 88

Intoxication can negate mens rea for s18 GBH only. Voluntary intoxication can negate mens rea for specific intent offences. Voluntary intoxication cannot negate the mens rea of s20 GBH and ABH but can negate mens rea for s18 GBH.

Question 89

A party cannot conspire to commit or encourage an offence against himself e.g. a 15 year old cannot be convicted for underage alcohol sale

Question 90

A conspirator is liable only for the acts which they agreed to. For a person to be guilty of a conspiracy, they must have entered an agreement to commit a crime and intend for all parts of that crime to be completed.

Question 91

A person taking property belonging to another can include a co-owner stealing from the other co-owner.

Question 92

For joint enterprise to be satisfied and for a co-defendant to be held liable as a principal, they must intend to assist or encourage the principal in the commission of the offence charged. The mens rea of the offence must be satisfied by the co-defendant e.g. for murder the co-defendant must intend to assist or encourage in killing or committing serious harm

Question 93

When the defendant realises that death or grievous bodily harm is a virtual certainty of the defendant’s conduct, this is sufficient for indirect intent

Question 94

The crime of attempted robbery is completed as soon as the defendant pulls out the weapon and demands the item

Question 95

Whilst theft is ordinarily an either way offence, theft under the value of £200 is treated as summary only in that the Magistrates’ Court cannot decline jurisdiction. However, the defendant is able to elect Crown Court trial.

Question 96

Arson has no requirement for death or injury to result

Question 97

Arson can be committed recklessly i.e. didn’t check to see if there was anyone inside or near

Question 98

Under the joint enterprise doctrine, a secondary participant in a crime can be criminally liable as a co-principal if they assisted or encouraged the commission of the crime and intended to assist or encourage the commission of the crime committed by the principal.