Involuntary manslaughter- gross negligence Flashcards
Principles developed by
R v Adomako
Definition
Person will be convicted if:
-Defendant owed a duty of care towards the victim
-Breached the duty and caused death
-Negligence was gross, serious enough to warrant criminal liability in eyes of the jury
- Gross negligence which was the substantial cause
Reasonable claimant would be injured
Donoghue v Stevenson
Public policy considerations to be made and whether the imposition of a duty of care would be just and reasonable
Caparo v Dickman
R v Singh
Applies to an omission
R v Stone and Dobinson
No action in civil law did not mean there was no breach of duty of care in criminal cases
R v Wacker
where defendant and victim were engaged in criminal activity , defendant still owe a duty of care
R v Willoughby
Negligence deemed as gross if it goes ‘beyond the matter of mere compensation between subjects and shows disregard for the life and safety of others as to amount to a crime of the state deserving of punishment’
R v Bateman
Jury considers the seriousness of breach in all circumstances
R v Adomako
It is not enough to show there was a risk to bodily injury or injury to health, the test is whether there is a risk of death
R v Misra and Srivastava
Duty of care can exist where the defendant has created a state of affairs which they know or ought to reasonably know would become life threatening
R v Evans
