Defences: Duress by threats Flashcards
What is duress?
A common law defence
Where a person commits a crime as they were acting under a threat of death or serious injury
Forced to break the law due to threat made
What kind of defence is duress?
A full defence
What kind of crimes can duress be used under?
All crimes except murder (Howe) / attempted murder (Gotts) and treason
What case set out the case for duress by threat?
Hasan in 2005
What is the test for duress by threat?
Must be a threat to cause death or serious injury against the D, immediate family or someone they’re close to
D must act reasonably in light of threat and judged objectively
No evasive action D could have taken
Defence fails if D voluntarily associates themselves
What happened in Valderrama-Vega?
As it was threats against himself and family, could use the defence
What happened in Graham?
King tied flex around D’s wife and told him to pull it, wife died.
Both charged with murder
What tests did the courts set out in Graham?
- D honestly and reasonably believed he had good cause to fear death/serious injury
Hasan confirmed the belief that threats must be reasonble - D must have acted as the sober man of reasonable firmness having some of the D’s characteristics
What happened in Bowen
Low IQ is not a relevant characteristic, but age, gender, pregnancy and mental/physical diabilities are
What is a causal nexus?
There must be a direct link between the threat and the final crime committed by the D, otherwise the defence fails
What happened in Cole?
Lack of causal nexus as the lenders jsut wanted to money back, they didn’t tell him to rob the banks to get the money
What is the timing of the threat?
The D must have ‘no safe avenue of escape’
What happened in Gill?
D and wife threatened unless he stole a lorry, he was left alone so there was a safe avenue of escape, defence failed
What does it mean to voluntarily associate?
Duress is excluded when someone voluntarily associates themselves
They foresaw/ought to have reasonably foreseen the risk of being subjected to threats or violece
What happened in Hasan?
As the D voluntarily associated himself with the drug dealer, duress failed as he foresaw/ought to have foreseen the risk of being subjected to threats or violence
