Gross Negligence Manslaughter Flashcards
GNM Summary Template
1 - Duty of care - Caparo, Robinson
2 - Breach of duty - reasonable man, Bolam, DeFreitas, Bolitho
3 - BOD must create risk of death
4 - BOD must cause death
5 - ‘Grossly negligent’? - Misra, Sellu
6 - Life Imprisonment
GNM AO1 Full Template
To obtain a conviction, the Crown must show that there is a duty of care owed by D to the victim. Originally, this was based on the 3 point incremental test in Caparo, however, following Robinson, the Caparo test only needs applying in new and novel cases. Instead, the courts should establish a duty of care by looking to existing duty situations or ones with clear analogy. The _____ is an obvious duty situation with authority in support (case).
D must have breaches their duty of care. If D is to be found to have breached his DOC, his conduct must have fallen below the standard of the reasonable person.
WITH REGARD TO DOCTORS
The Bolam test is to be applied which asks whether D acted in accordance with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of medical men.’ DeFreitas tells us that the body need not be large, and following Bolitho, the practice must have a reasonable and logical basis.
The breach of duty must create a serious and obvious risk of death (Singh) APPLY
The Breach of duty must cause death. In the case of an act, we look to factual (But for - Pagett) and legal (Smith/Chesire) and the chain of causation. In an omission, the test from Misra is applied - had D fulfilled her duty, it was at least very highly
