Involuntary Mansluaghter

Question 1

Three categories of Involuntary Manslaughter

Answer 1

1. Unlawful Act Manslaughter
2. Gross Negligence Manslaughter
3. Reckless Manslaughter

Question 2

All 3 are common law offences; what does this mean?

Answer 2

There is no statute defining them

Question 3

3 parts to unlawful act manslaughter

Answer 3

1. Has D committed an unlawful act?
2. Was the unlawful act dangerous?
3. Did the unlawful act cause the death of V?

Question 4

4 parts to gross negligence manslaughter

Answer 4

1. Was there a duty of care between D and V?
2. Has there been a breach of this duty?
3. Did D’s conduct cause V’s death?
4. Was D’s breach of duty grossly negligent?

Question 5

What is unlawful act manslaughter?

Answer 5

Where D commits a criminal act in dangerous circumstances, leading to the death of V.

Question 6

What is gross negligent manslaughter?

Case law example:

Answer 6

Where D causes the victims death through being grossly negligent.
e.g. R v Reeves - unattended child left in bath tub, drowned.

Question 7

In which case are the 4 elements of gross negligence manslaughter set out?

Answer 7

House of Lords in Adomako [1994]

D was an anaesthetist who failed to spot that a tube supplying oxygen to V had become detached and V died.

Question 8

In unlawful act manslaughter, can the base offence be an omission?
Case law?

Answer 8

No, must be carried out through an act
Lowe (1973)
D neglected child, causing their death. No liability for UAM; this would be considered under GNM.

Question 9

The unlawful act must be one which requires a subjective mens rea … from which case was this determined?

Answer 9

Andrews v DDP [1937]

Question 10

‘The unlawful act must be dangerous’ is what type of element?

Answer 10

objective

Question 11

What does an objective element mean in UAM?
Case for this?
& what principle came out of it?

Answer 11

would a sober, reasonable person have foreseen that D’s acts were dangerous
R v Church [1966]
V mocked D for not satisfying her sexually
D struck V
D, believing V was dead, threw her in the river.
V drowned
D held liable
= reasonable person only needs to foresee the risk of ‘some’ harm.

Question 12

What is the one exception to the ‘reasonable person’ rule?

Case law?

Answer 12

where D has special knowledge of V; the reasonable person would not necessarily have known this, however, D can still be found liable as he does know this special information
reasonable person has the knowledge that D had at the time and in the circumstances (Dawson (1985))

Question 13

‘D’s act need not be directed at V’ comes from which case law?

Answer 13

Goodfellow (1986)

In this case, D set fire to his home in an attempt to get rehoused. In doing so, he killed 3 people. Liable for UAM.

Question 14

It is necessary that D’s act caused V’s death…
What is there no requirement of?
Which case is this from?

Answer 14

that D intended, knew or was reckless to, or foresaw V’s death in any way
Attorney General’s Reference [1998]

Question 15

In UAM normal rules of causation apply.
What are these?
Case law?

Answer 15

D must be the factual and legal cause of the death and the chain of causation must not be broken
Lewis (2010)
D pushed one of V’s friends V intervened and ran into oncoming traffic. V died. V’s actions were foreseeable and did not break the chain of causation. D liable for unlawful act manslaughter.

Question 16

How is duty of care defined?

Answer 16

Broadly. e.g. doctor to patient; employer to employee etc

Question 17

Can GNM be committed by omission?

Case law?

Answer 17

yes 
Evans [2009] 
D supplied V with heroin
V showed signs of overdose 
D did not call an ambulance and V died 
D held liable: he contributed to a dangerous situation and so had a duty to take steps to avert the danger

Question 18

Negligence is an objective concept which means?

Answer 18

must determine whether D’s conduct has fallen below that of a reasonable person
(If D claims to have special skills, reasonable person also has these skills (normal rules apply))

Question 19

Causing D’s death (GNM)?

Answer 19

V’s death must be caused directly by D (act or omission) usual rules of causation apply
causation must be proved, even where it was D’s omission which caused death (Evans)

Question 20

Breach ‘grossly’ negligent?

Answer 20

Negligence must be ‘gross’ = sufficiently bad as to be deserving for punishment of manslaughter
Requires jury to look objectively

Question 21

Advantage of increased jury discretion?

Answer 21

allows juries to only find liability for manslaughter in the most serious cases

Question 22

Disadvantage of increased jury discretion?

Answer 22

discretion makes it difficult to predict at the outset, whether D will or will not be liable

Question 23

What is involuntary manslaughter? & How does it differ from murder/voluntary manslaughter

Answer 23

D has caused the death of another, but does not have the necessary mens rea for murder
Actus reus + No mens rea = invol manslaughter
Actus reus + mens rea + partial defence = vol manslaughter

Question 24

Can you be liable for both UAM and GNM?

Answer 24

Yes, they sometimes overlap

R v Willoughby (2004) - both could have been found in this case but it was said that UAM was easier to follow

Question 25

Important differences between UAM and GNM?

Answer 25

1. UAM requires D to commit an act, whereas GNM can be fulfilled by both act and omission
2. UAM requires reasonable person to foresee the risk of ‘some’ harm whereas GNM requires the reasonable person to foresee the risk of death
   (both an objective test)

Question 26

Unreported case example for reckless manslaughter?

Answer 26

Linclar (1999) confirmed that this type of manslaughter does exist; but it is very rare and controversial

Question 27

Essential elements of reckless manslaughter?

Answer 27

1. D’s act or omission caused the death of another
2. D was aware of death or serious injury
3. Taking an unjustified risk

Question 28

What is reckless manslaughter?

Answer 28

D causes the death of V by being (subjectively) reckless

Question 29

When is reckless manslaughter likely to be relevant?

Answer 29

1. When D kills by omission (cannot be UAM)

2. D’s omission does not pose to objectively foresee death, but maybe just harm (cannot be UAM or GNM)