Involuntary Manslaughter (done) Flashcards
What is the definition of involuntary manslaughter?
Involuntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another human being during the Kings peace without malice aforethought.
What distinguishes involuntary manslaughter from murder?
Murder required malice aforethought (intention) whereas in involuntary manslaughter there is no malice aforethought.
What are the 3 elements required for the actus reus of an unlawful act manslaughter?
1) It must be an unlawful act
2) The unlawful act must be dangerous (objective test)
3) It must cause the death of the victim
Explain how The unlawful act is defined in an Unlawful Act Manslaughter (4 elements)
1) It must be a crime and not a civil wrong (Fenton)
2) To establish a crime, ask ‘would a crime have been committed if V had not died’ (Lamb)
3) There must be an unlawful act - an omission will not suffice (Khan & Khan)
4) The unlawful act need not be directed against V (Larkin) or a person (Goodfellow)
What are the 2 types of involuntary manslaughter?
1) Unlawful Act Manslaughter
2) Gross Negligence Manslaughter
What is the definition of Unlawful Act Manslaughter?
Unlawful act manslaughter is committed when a person causes the death of another by performing an unlawful and dangerous act that is likely to cause harm but not serious harm.
Explain how the act must dangerous in unlawful act manslaughter?
Whether the act is dangerous is decided objectively (Church). This test comes from Humphries J in Larkin, ‘whether the act is considered a dangerous one is decided objectively, i.e. it must be an act that a sober and reasonable man would regard as dangerous’ (Larkin).
How is it decided that unlawful act caused the death of the victim?
Using causation in fact and law it will be decided if the act caused the death of the victim (Pagett/Jordan)
As unlawful act manslaughter is a result crime what must D’s actions be?
In result crimes, D’s act must be the factual and legal cause of V’s death R v Lewis (2010)
What price of law relates to supplying drugs potentially amounting to an unlawful act manslaughter?
Supplying someone with an illegal drug would amount to D’s initial, unlawful and dangerous act of ‘administering a noxious substance’ under S23 Offences Against the Persons Act 1861
Can supplying drugs to V make D liable for unlawful act manslaughter?
- If D injects the drug into V then there is no break in the chain of causation and D would be found guilty. Cato (1976)
- If D supplies/ prepares the drug and V injects himself then D is not guilty as Vs own actions break the chain of causation (Dalby/Kennedy)
What is the mens rea for unlawful act manslaughter?
The mens rea for Unlawful Act Manslaughter is the mens Rea required for the unlawful act (Newbury & Jones) e.g s20 GBH or wounding
What are the 2 type of mens Rea required for an unlawful act manslaughter?
Either:
1) Direct intention (Mohan) where it was D’s main aim or purpose
2) Subjective recklessness where D realised the risk and decided to take it anyway (Cunningham). Arguably they aimed cause some harm but not serious harm (Dica)
What is the sentence for an unlawful act manslaughter?
A deiscretionary sentence of anything up to life
What is the definition of gross negligence manslaughter?
Gross negligence manslaughter is defined as a dangerous civil wrong that results in death. The jury must decide whether D was grossly negligent/careless and therefore caused the death of V (Stone & Dobinson)
What is used to establish the actus reus in gross negligence manslaughter?
A 6-stage test established in R v Broughton (2020)
What must be established in the actus reus of a gross negligence manslaughter?
That D owes a duty of care, breaches that duty, and causes the death of V (R v Evans)
What are the 2 ways a duty of care can be established in gross negligence manslaughter?
1) Through the ordinary principles of negligence where a DOC is owed through Caparo v Dickman
2) A common law duty of care/duty to act (Miller)
How is a breach of duty shown through the ordinary principles of negligence?
The BOLAM test is used when applying the ordinary principles of negligence (Adomako). This test looks at whether D has fallen below the standard of the reasonable competent person/professional carrying out that skill.
How is a breach of duty shown through a common law duty?
The duty is breached through the failure to act/omission (Miller).
What is the 3rd element of the Broughton 6-stage test for Gross Negligence Manslaughter?
At the time of the breach there must have been a serious and obvious risk of death (R v Singh 1999)
What is the 4th element of the Broughton 6-stage test for Gross Negligence Manslaughter?
It was reasonably foreseeable to the time of the breach that it would give rise of a serious and obvious risk of death
What is the 5th element of the Broughton 6-stage test in Gross Negligence Manslaughter?
The breach caused must have made a significant contribution to the death of V. Causation in fact and in law is then established (Pagett/Jordan)
What is the 6th element of the Broughton 6-stage test for Gross Negligent Manslaughter?
The duty of care must have been breached in a grossly negligent manner (jury decide this).
