Diminished Responsibilty Flashcards
Diminished responsibility act
S.52 coroners and justices act 2009
Diminished responsibility points (3)
-arose from a recognized medical condition
-substantially impaired Ds ability to do one or more of the following:
–understand the nature of his conduct
–form rational judgement
–exercise self control
-explains Ds acts and omissions
R V Byrne
Defence covers all activities of the mind, and the ability to exercise willpower
R V Fairweather
Can have a medical condition, but was not psychotic at the time of the killings so did not explain Ds acts
R V Martin
Recognised medical condition, in this case depression and paranoid personality disorder
R V Brennan
If 2 medical experts agree on a recognised medical condition the defence can be used
R V Brown
Abnormality must be more than a minimal or trivial contribution
R V Golds
Discussed the direction in regards to the word substantial when dealing with a substantial impairment
R V Simcox The Times
Did the impairment make a substantial difference - if any less then still guilty
R V Osbourne
ADHD could give rise to the defence but here it did not substantially impair his mental responsibility, rather his drug taking and anger did
R V Dietschmann
The abnormality of mind could still have been a substantial cause of the killing, impaired his mental responsibility
R V Wood
Alcohol dependancy is a recognised medical condition
R V Dowds
Acute voluntary intoxication is a medical condition but no defence for diminished responsibility
R V Joyce and another
Schizophrenia with alcohol or drug dependancy, but not dependancy alone
Burden of proof for DR - R V Foye
Lies with the defence
