Involuntary Manslaughter Flashcards
What is involuntary manslaughter?
Unlawful killing without intention to kill or cause GBH
What are the two ways of committing involuntary manslaughter?
- Unlawful act manslaughter
- Gross negligence manslaughter
What is unlawful act manslaughter?
D causes death doing an unlawful and dangerous act with the necessary mens rea for the unlawful act
What are the 4 key elements needed for UAC
- D must do an unlawful act (crime)
- The act must be dangerous on an objective test
- The act must cause the death
- D must have mens rea for the unlawful act
Unlawful act
- Must be an act: omission is insufficient (e.g Lowe 1973)
- Must be a criminal offence
- Can be criminal damage or burglary
Case for unlawful act
- Lamb 1967
- No unlawful act existed because they did not understand mechanism of a loaded gun
- V not in fear of being shot
Dangerous
- All sober and reasonable people would inevitably recognise that some harm may occur, albeit not serious harm
- Must be a risk of physical harm, not mere emotional disturbance (Dawson 1985)
- Doesn’t matter if D didnt realise there was a risk of harm to others (Goodfellow 1986)
Case for dangerous
Church 1965
Causation
Must cause death in fact and law: usual rules on causation apply
Case for causation
- Kennedy 2007
- V’s voluntary act in injecting himself broke the chain of causation
Mens rea
Mens rea for initial act, no need to prove D realises the act is dangerous/unlawful/forsees a risk of harm
Case for mens rea
Newbury and Jones 1976
D only needs MR for unlawful act
What is gross negligence manslaughter?
D causes death by breaching a duty of care towards V in a grossly negligent way
What are the key elements of GNM?
- Duty of care
- Breach of duty causing death
- Gross negligence which the jury considers so bad as to be criminal
Duty of care
- Must be duty owed by D to V, decided by the trial judge
- Can include situations that give rise to liability for omissions (Stone & Dobinson 1977)
- Duty of care still owed to someone involved in an unlawful activity (Wacker 2002)
Case for duty of care
- Adomako 1994
- Duty of care is owed to anyone it is reasonably foreseeable may be harmed by D’s negligent acts/omissions
Breach of duty which causes death
- If D falls below the standard of the reasonable person performing the duty in question
- Normal rules of causation apply
- D’s conduct must involve a foreseeable risk of death at the time of the breach
Case for breach of duty which causes death
- Singh 1999
- Death from carbon monoxide poisoning was a foreseeable risk if the gas fire was not maintained properly by landlord
Gross negligence
- Must be so cross in the eyes of the jury as to be criminal
- Shows a disregard for life and the safety of others (Bateman 1925)
Case for gross negligence
- Sellu 2016
- Jury must identify the line between mistakes and conduct which is truly exceptionally bad
