gross negligence manslaughter

Question 1

paragraph one: definition

Answer 1

committed where D owes V a duty of care but breaches that duty in a way that is criminal and negligent and can be committed by an act or omission, neither of which have to be unlawful (adomako)

Question 2

paragraph two: duty of care

Answer 2

stone and dobinson, singh
a) duty owed where there’s knowledge of certain facts (kuodas, zaman, wacker)
b) existence of a duty created a dangerous situation (evans)
c) objective test - whether there is a breach of duty is a factual matter for the jury to decide

Question 3

paragraph three: risk of death

Answer 3

bateman - “disregard for the life and safety of others” (andrews, misra and srivastava)

Question 4

paragraph four: gross negligence

Answer 4

jury must conclude that a reasonably prudent person would’ve foreseen a serious risk of death (rudling, rose)

Question 5

paragraph five: substantial cause of V’s death

Answer 5

causation rules apply (factual, legal and intervening acts)

Question 6

paragraph six: MR

Answer 6

D didn’t have intention to kill, D is judged by their behaviour and not their state of mind, there must be an obvious risk of death, which is judged objectively so it doesn’t matter that D didn’t foresee the risk