Involuntary Manslaughter - Gross Negligence Manslaughter 2

Question 1

What is Gross Negligence Manslaughter?

Answer 1

Where D causes V’s death by breaching a duty of care towards V in a grossly negligent way

Question 2

How many key elements are there to gross negligence manslaughter?

Answer 2

3

Question 3

What are the key elements to gross negligence manslaughter?

Answer 3

1.There must be a duty of care that D owes to V
2.A breach of that duty of care must cause the death.
3.Gross negligence that the jury must consider to be bad enough to be criminal.

Question 4

What is key element 1 to gross negligence manslaughter?

Answer 4

There must be a duty of care that D owes to V

Question 5

What is key element 2 to gross negligence manslaughter?

Answer 5

A breach of that duty of care must cause the death.

Question 6

What is key element 3 to gross negligence manslaughter?

Answer 6

It must be gross negligence that the jury considers is bad enough to be criminal.

Question 7

Who decides whether there is a duty of care D owes V in a gross negligence manslaughter case?

Answer 7

the trial judge

Question 8

What is a key case for element 1 of gross negligence mansluaghter: the existence of a duty of care owed by D to V?

Answer 8

Adomako 1994

Question 9

What happened in the case of Adomako 1994?

Answer 9

An anaesthetist failed to notice a breathing tube had become disconnected during an operation, V had a heart attack and died. - It was decided that civil principles apply, including the neighbour principle from Donoghue v Stevenson, meaning that a duty of care is owed to anyone it is reasonably foreseeable may be harmed by D’s negliegent acts or omissions.

Question 10

What did Adomako 1994 show the criminal courts?

Answer 10

That a duty of care exists in very different situations.

Question 11

What happened in the case of Singh 1999?

Answer 11

A faulty gas fire caused the death of tenants, the landlord had a duty to maintain the property and was therefore charged with manslaughter.

Question 12

In what key case is a landlord charged with gross negligence manslaughter after tenant dies in gas fire?

Answer 12

Singh 1999

Question 13

What happens in the case of Litchfield 1998?

Answer 13

Captain set sail even though he knew fuel was contaminated, engine failed and crew members drowned. Captain owed a duty of care to the crew and was therefore charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

Question 14

In what key case does a Captain get chagred with gross negligence manslaughter due to crew members drowning? The captain knew that the fuel was contaminted and the drowning happened because the engine failed.

Answer 14

Litchfield 1998

Question 15

What happens in the case of Winter 2010?

Answer 15

Ds owed a duty of care to inform firefighters attending to a fire at their premises that they were storing unlicensed fireworks, two firefighters died from an explosion.

Question 16

Is an omission enough for gross negligence manslaughter?

Answer 16

yes

Question 17

What is a key case for omission in gross negligence manslaughter?

Answer 17

Stone and Dobisnon 1977

Question 18

What happened in the case of Stone and Dobinson 1977?

Answer 18

Ds had voluntarily undertaken a duty of care for their anorexic relative, they were liable for her death when they failed to get her medical help when necessary.

Question 19

What happened in the case of Evans 2009?

Answer 19

V self-injected heroin supplied by her half-sister and collapsed. Neither the sister or mother saught medical help as they feared getting into trouble. - the mother owed a duty of care to her daughter, as a parent. The half-sister also owed a duty of care under the “miller principle”(creating a dangerous situation and failing to minimise it)

Question 20

In what case did V self inject heroin, supplied by her half-sister, and collapse while her mother or half-sister did not seek medical help?

Answer 20

Evans 2009

Question 21

What case shows that a duty of care can be owed to someone even if they are involved in unlawful activity?

Answer 21

Wacker 2002

Question 22

What happened in the case of Wacker 2002?

Answer 22

The bodies of 58 illegal immigrantd were found in D’s lorry after he had closed their air vents - the driver had assumed a duty of care when closing the air vents, and wasa in breach of duty by not opening it, it is irrelevant that the Vs knew they were entering an unlawful arranegement.

Question 23

Gross Negligence Manslaughter - Key Element 2

How do you know is someone has breached their duty of care?

Answer 23

If D falls below the standard of the reasonable person performing the duty, they will be in breach.

Question 24

What 2 things must be proved in key element 2 of gross negligence manslaughter?

Answer 24

Legal and factual causation

Question 25

What is factual causation?

Answer 25

**But for** D's actions would V have died

Question 26

What is legal causation?

Answer 26

was it an atleast minimal contribution, or was the chain of causation broken?

Question 27

What must the prosecution prove for causation when the breach of duty is done by omission?

Answer 27

that V would have survived if D had fulfilled their duty to act

Question 28

What is a key case to show that the risk of death must be reasonably foreseeable at the time of the breach?

Answer 28

*Rose 2017*

Question 29

What happened in the case of *Rose 2017*?

Answer 29

an optometrist failed to look at the back of a young boys eye during a routine eye test, if she had examined him properly the death could have been prevented. However. it was not reasonably foreseeable at the time of breach that there was a risk of death - D was initially charged with GNM but appealed and was acquited.

Question 30

What happened in the case of *Misra 2004*?

Answer 30

doctors failed to identify infection after an operation, breaaching their duty of care to follow certain procedures after an operation. V died and D's manslaughter conviction was upheld due to the foreseeable risk of death.

Question 31

# Gross Negligence Manslaughter In what case was "gross" defined?

Answer 31

*Bateman 1925*

Question 32

What was 'gross' defined as due to *Bateman*?

Answer 32

negligence which went beyond a mere matter of civil compensation and showed such disregard for life and saftey that it amounts to a crime deserving of punishment.