involuntary manslaughter - UAM

Question 1

What is involuntary manslaughter?

Answer 1

An unlawful killing where D did not have the necessary intention for murder

Question 2

What is the maximum sentence for involuntary manslaughter and what does the judge have?

Answer 2

Maximum sentence is life

Judge has discretion in sentencing

Question 3

What are the three categories of involuntary manslaughter?

Answer 3

Unlawful act manslaughter

Gross negligence manslaughter

Reckless manslaughter

Question 4

What is unlawful act manslaughter sometimes referred to as?

Answer 4

Constructive act manslaughter

Question 5

What are the three actus reus elements required for unlawful act manslaughter

Answer 5

D must:
Commit an unlawful act
Which must be dangerous
And must cause the death

Question 6

What is the mens rea element of unlawful act manslaughter?

Answer 6

D must have the required mens rea for the unlawful act (not the death)

Question 7

What kind of offence must the unlawful act be?

Answer 7

A criminal one, a tort is not enough

Question 8

Can unlawful act manslaughter be committed by omission?

Answer 8

No it can’t

Question 9

Give the facts of Franklin

Answer 9

D threw a large box off a pier it hit a swimmer who died

Question 10

Give the ratio of Franklin

Answer 10

D not liable because he commuted a civil wrong not a criminal one

Question 11

Give the facts of Lamb

Answer 11

D pointed a gun at v and fired killing him, neither of them thought the gun was loaded

Question 12

Give the ratio of Lamb

Answer 12

No liability, the pointing of the gun was not an assault because the friend did not fear any violence from D

Question 13

Give the facts of Lowe

Answer 13

D willingly neglected his son who died as a result

Question 14

Give the ratio of Lowe

Answer 14

D was not liable because unlawful act manslaughter can not be committed by an omission

Question 15

Give the facts of Goodfellow

Answer 15

D set fire to his house resulting in three deaths

Question 16

Give the ratio of Goodfellow

Answer 16

All the elements of unlawful act manslaughter were present so D was convicted

Question 17

What does Church establish?

Answer 17

The objective test for whether an act is dangerous

Question 18

Give the test stated in Church

Answer 18

An act is dangerous if the reasonable person would have foreseen some kind of harm to a person (not necessarily V)

Question 19

Give the facts of JM and SM

Answer 19

D’s got into a fight with V who died of a ruptured artery

Question 20

Give the ratio of JM and SM

Answer 20

D only has to foresee SOME harm to V

Question 21

Finish the sentence:

The risk of harm must be…

Answer 21

Physical not emotional

Question 22

Finish the sentence:

If the reasonable person would be aware of…

Answer 22

A victims frailty and increased risk of physical harm then the defendant would be liable

Question 23

Give the facts of Watson

Answer 23

D’s entered property intending to steal, they physically abused an old man who died of a heart attack 90 mins later

Question 24

Give the obiter of Watson

Answer 24

Said burglary could be dangerous as soon as the old mans condition became apparent to the reasonable man

Question 25

Give the facts of Bristow, Dunn and Delay

Answer 25

D’s burgled V and ran him over

Question 26

Give the ratio of Bristow

Answer 26

A reasonable person would have foreseen the risk of some harm from the burglary

Question 27

Finish the sentence:

It does not matter if:

Answer 27

V was not the person the act was aimed at

Question 28

Give the facts of Larkin

Answer 28

D threatened someone with a razor but someone else fell on the razor and died

Question 29

Give the ratio of Larkin

Answer 29

It does not matter if V was not the person the assault was aimed at

Question 30

Give the facts of Mitchell

Answer 30

D got into an argument and stumbled into V who died of her injuries

Question 31

Give the ratio of Mitchell

Answer 31

The act was dangerous as it was likely to harm someone

Question 32

Fill the blank:

The general rules of __________ apply to unlawful act manslaughter

Answer 32

Causation

Question 33

Give the facts of Corion Auguste

Answer 33

D threw a firework, v was knocked to the floor and died

Question 34

Give the ratio of Corion Auguste

Answer 34

D’s act was the direct and substantial cause of death

Question 35

Give the facts of cato

Answer 35

D and v injected each other with heroin and v died

Question 36

Give the ratio of Cato

Answer 36

This did not break the chain of causation because D injected the drugs

Question 37

Give the facts of Dalby

Answer 37

D supplied drugs to V who self injected and died

Question 38

Give the ratio of Dalby

Answer 38

V’s own act of self injecting was an intervening act

Question 39

Give the facts of Kennedy

Answer 39

D prepared a syringe for V who self injected and died

Question 40

Give the ratio of Kennedy

Answer 40

V’s act of injecting himself was an intervening act which broke the chain of causation

Question 41

Give an Ao2 point about Kennedy

Answer 41

Even the courts can’t decide if drug dealers should be responsible for deaths, Court of Appeal upheld conviction twice then quashed

Question 42

Give the facts of Dias

Answer 42

D prepared a syringe for V who self injected and died

Question 43

Give the obiter of Dias

Answer 43

Court of Appeal suggested conviction of gross negligence manslaughter might be possible where a duty of care could be established, this duty could be a duty not to supply and prepare drugs

Question 44

What is the mens rea of unlawful act manslaughter

Answer 44

The level of mens rea necessary for the unlawful act, they do not need to foresee death

Question 45

Give the facts of Newbury and Jones

Answer 45

D’s threw a paving stone at a passing train causing the death of V

Question 46

Give the ratio of Newbury and Jones

Answer 46

The House of Lords said it was not necessary for D to prove he foresaw any harm from his act

Question 47

Give the facts of Le Brun

Answer 47

D hit his wife on the chin and she became unconscious so he dragged her away, in doing so she fractured her skull and died

Question 48

Give the ratio of Le Brun

Answer 48

Although the intentional unlawful act was not the direct cause of death, that act and the act causing death were part of the same sequence of events and that was sufficient