Involuntary Mansluaghter Flashcards
Three categories of Involuntary Manslaughter
- Unlawful Act Manslaughter
- Gross Negligence Manslaughter
- Reckless Manslaughter
All 3 are common law offences; what does this mean?
There is no statute defining them
3 parts to unlawful act manslaughter
- Has D committed an unlawful act?
- Was the unlawful act dangerous?
- Did the unlawful act cause the death of V?
4 parts to gross negligence manslaughter
- Was there a duty of care between D and V?
- Has there been a breach of this duty?
- Did D’s conduct cause V’s death?
- Was D’s breach of duty grossly negligent?
What is unlawful act manslaughter?
Where D commits a criminal act in dangerous circumstances, leading to the death of V.
What is gross negligent manslaughter?
Case law example:
Where D causes the victims death through being grossly negligent.
e.g. R v Reeves - unattended child left in bath tub, drowned.
In which case are the 4 elements of gross negligence manslaughter set out?
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.
In unlawful act manslaughter, can the base offence be an omission?
Case law?
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.
The unlawful act must be one which requires a subjective mens rea … from which case was this determined?
Andrews v DDP [1937]
‘The unlawful act must be dangerous’ is what type of element?
objective
What does an objective element mean in UAM?
Case for this?
& what principle came out of it?
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.
What is the one exception to the ‘reasonable person’ rule?
Case law?
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))
‘D’s act need not be directed at V’ comes from which case law?
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.
It is necessary that D’s act caused V’s death…
What is there no requirement of?
Which case is this from?
that D intended, knew or was reckless to, or foresaw V’s death in any way
Attorney General’s Reference [1998]
In UAM normal rules of causation apply.
What are these?
Case law?
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.
How is duty of care defined?
Broadly. e.g. doctor to patient; employer to employee etc
Can GNM be committed by omission?
Case law?
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
Negligence is an objective concept which means?
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))
Causing D’s death (GNM)?
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)
Breach ‘grossly’ negligent?
Negligence must be ‘gross’ = sufficiently bad as to be deserving for punishment of manslaughter
Requires jury to look objectively
Advantage of increased jury discretion?
allows juries to only find liability for manslaughter in the most serious cases
Disadvantage of increased jury discretion?
discretion makes it difficult to predict at the outset, whether D will or will not be liable
What is involuntary manslaughter? & How does it differ from murder/voluntary manslaughter
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
Can you be liable for both UAM and GNM?
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
