Insanity Flashcards
What is the rule with insanity?
Under the M’Naghteb rules the defendant must labour under such a defect of reasoning from a disease of the mind as to not to know the nature or quality of the act he was doing or if he did know, he did not know what he was doing was wrong
What is a defect of reason?
There must be a total deprivation of the power to control the mind.
- If the d is able to reason and rationalise their thoughts then there will not be a defence
R V Clarke
What Is a disease of the mind?
This is a legal term not a medical and includes any physical pr psychological condition.
epilepsy - R V Sullivan
diabetes can be a special cases it can be insanity or automatism depending the state of the victim
hyperglycaemia = insanity
hypoglycaemia = automatism
The nature of the act
The D must not understand the nature or quality of their act was legally wrong - R V One
