Duress Flashcards
cases for duress defence not accepted for murder or attempted murder
- R v Gotts
- R v Howe
what are the two types of duress
- duress by threats
- duress by circumstances
what is duress by threats
D committed a crime as he received personal threats or threats to family members, or people for whom the defendant is responsible for
what was confirmed in R v Cole
needs to be a connection between the threats made to the accused and the offence committed in response to the threats
who needs to consider the two-part test set out in R v Graham
the jury
Part 1 of the Graham test
was the defendant compelled to act in the belief that he or others would be killed or seriously injured if he didn’t comply with the threats
what must the threat to the defendant be
serious, unavoidable and imminent
can duress be self-induced
can’t be self-induced
case for defendants belief that he would be killed must be reasonable (objective test)
R v Hasan
what type of threats are necessary
threats of death and serious injury
what was confirmed in R v Valderrama-Vega
the court held that only the threat to him and his family were able to afford the defence of duress, not the threat to expose defendants homosexuality
case for threat needs to be immediate
R v Gill
case for self-induced duress
R v Hasan
Part 2 of the Graham test
Would a sober person of reasonable firmness, sharing the same characteristics of the defendant, have acted in a similar way
what will the courts take into account when considering part 2 of the Graham test
age and sex of the defendants
what will the jury take into account when considering part 2 of the Graham test
- serious physical disability
- pregnancy
- recognised mental illness/psychiatric disorder
what wasn’t taken into account by the courts in R v Bowen
defendant being of low IQ/intelligence
what isn’t taken into account
- intoxication
- defendant being ‘timid
- defendant being more vulnerable to threats
where is duress of circumstances mainly used
in driving offences
what is duress of circumstances
defendants may have been forced to commit a driving offence because of the circumstances they found themselves to be in
what was established in R v Conway
duress of circumstances should have been a possible defence
in what case did the court of appeal establish a two-stage test for duress of circumstances
R v Martin
first stage for duress of circumstances
defendant reasonably believed that the death or serious injury would result
second stage for duress of circumstances
sober person of reasonable firmness would have done as the defendant did
in what case was the defence of duress of circumstances extended beyond driving offences
R v Pommell
