Insanity

Question 1

Define insanity

Answer 1

A defendant who wishes to declare that they were insane at the time of the offence must demonstrate that they were suffering from the following:

1. Defect of reason
2. Which was caused by a disease of the mind
3. Which meant that they did not know the nature or quality of their actions
4. They didn’t know that what they were doing was wrong

If successful, the defendant will be found ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’, e.g M’Naghten [1943]

Question 2

Outline the first requirement for a successful defence of insanity

Answer 2

Disease of the mind
Any disease which affected the functioning of the mind
Must have existed at the time the act was committed, i.e epilepsy, diabetes, sleepwalking

Question 3

Outline the second requirement for a successful defence of insanity

Answer 3

Defect of reason
Meaning the defendant’s powers of reasoning were impaired
It’s not enough to show that those powers were available, but not used.
Moreover, absentmindedness is not sufficient, e.g R v Clarke [1972]

Question 4

Outline the third requirement for a successful defence of insanity

Answer 4

The defendant did not know the nature & quality of their act, that they did or that t was wrong
This must be caused by both defect of reason & disease of the mind
The defendant must have no awareness of what was happening, i.e suffering from a seizure, e.g R v Sullivan [1984]
The defendant was aware of what they were doing, but deluded as to the material circumstances of their actions, e.g R v Oye [2013] / R v Keal [2022]