fatal offences flashcards
what is the definition of murder
the unlawful killing of a reasonable creature in being under the kings peace with malice aforethought expressed or implied.
what is the AR of murder
1) unlawful killing
2) reasonable creature in being
3) under kings peace
MR of murder
malice aforethought expressed or implied.
implied malice?
expressed malice
implied = intention to cause gbh
expressed = intention to kill
who defined murder
Lord coke
what happened in ‘r v gibbins and proctor’
neglected and starved their child = murder can happen due to an omission
what happened in ‘r v vickers’
implied malice is enough for murder (don’t need intention to kill)
what was/is gbh defined as
was firstly defined by ‘dpp v smith’ as really serious harm, but was later changed in ‘R v saunders’ to serious harm.
what is voluntary manslaughter
D has the MR and AR for murder but has a partial defence of LOC or Diminished responsibility which reduces liability from murder to manslaughter.
what are the 3 elements for diminished responsibility
d suffered from an abnormality of ,mental functioning which.
1) arose fro recognised medical condition (such as paranoia ‘R v squelch)
2) which impaired D’s ability to
. understand nature of conduct
. form a rational judgement
. exercise self control
3) this provides explanation for d’s conduct
where is diminished responsibility set out
set out by the homicide act 1957, which previously the only defences was insanity which arose many problems. it was later ammended by coroners and justice act 2009.
who defined abnormality of mental functioning and what is it defined as.
R v bryne defined abnormality of mental functioning as “ a state of mind so different from the ordinary person, that the ordinary person would term it abnormal’
what are 3 elements for loss of control (LOC)
D kills or is party to a killing, he isn’t convicted of murder if:
A. the act or omission in the killing resulted from a loss of control.
B. qualifying trigger
C. person same sex and age as d with a normal degree of tolerance would’ve reacted in a same or similar way
first element for LOC
defendants action sin the killing resulted from a LOC, this must be a total LOC, and doesn’t have to be sudden. but D must’ve really lost it - shown in R v jewels as unable to think straight is not enough.
what does qualifying trigger mean
1) feared violence from victim against d or another identified person. shown in r v ward as he feared violence towards brother.
2) things said or done defined as : ‘things of extreme grave character that give d a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged.
. r v hatter = relationship breakup not enough
. r v Dawes = sexual infidelity not enough
