Manslaughter Flashcards
Statutory basis for Diminished Responsibility
S.2 Homicide Act (Substituted by s52 Criminal Justice Act)
Statutory basis for loss of self control
S54, 55 Criminal Justice Act
Brown
Letenock
Causal link for loss of self control can be established if the loss of contra arises from a mistake made by D.
Even if this mistake was induced by alcohol
Dawes (causation)
Loss of self control: possible to have regard to the cumulative impact of earlier events to determine if chain of causation remains intact
Dawes (qualifying triggers)
Fear of serious violence: Inciting things done/said as an excuse to use violence:
D must have INTENDED his actions would provide him with this opportunity- general behaviour not bad enough
Qualifying triggers
- Fear of serious violence
- Sense of being seriously wronged by things done and said which constitute circumstances of an extremely grave character, and caused D to have a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged
Clinton
Qualifying triggers: sense of being seriously wronged, sexual infidelity must be disregarded.
Things ‘said’ which constitute sexual infidelity include admissions or reports by others.
Where sexual infidelity is integral and forms an essential part of a wider context it should be taken into account
Amelash
Qualifying triggers: circumstances that bare on D’s general capacity for tolerance and self-restraint condition
Self- induced intoxication generally not a relevant circumstance- comes under exclusion
Hussain
Reckless MS:
Man driving car, knocked over child, drove off with child trapped, child only died because of being dragged along the road
Could not be murder as man did not foresee causing death/serious injury through his action of driving off.
R v Goodfellow
Components of constructive MS:
- Intentional act
- Unlawful act
- Act which a reasonable person would realise would be bound to subject some other human to the risk of physical harm
- Act was the cause of death
R v Lamb
Constructive MS: The Unlawful act
D must have the mens rea for the unlawful act in question
R v Scarlett
Constructive MS: The Unlawful act
Will not be unlawful if D has a defence to that act
Andrews v DPP
Constructive MS: The Unlawful act
Act in question was careless driving
Could not be an unlawful act for the purpose of MS as there is no intention component
DPP v Newbury and Jones
Constructive MS: The Dangerous act
Must consider whether a sober and reasonable person would recognise that the act was dangerous, not whether the accused did.
Dawson
Ball
Constructive MS: The Dangerous Act
The sober and reasonable person should be considered to only have as much knowledge as if he were at the scene and watched the act be performed
Knowledge that only the D may have can be imputed to the reasonable man
A-G Reference (No 3 of 1994)
Constructive MS: The Dangerous Act
Man stabbed pregnant woman, baby died as a result of premature birth due to mothers wounds
Held it doesn’t matter if the ultimate victim is someone the D did not see, or reasonable person would not foresee, it is the creating of the risk to any person that is the wrongdoing
Kennedy
Constructive MS: The act as the cause of death
D supplied drug but V administered it themselves
V made a free and informed choice to administer drug, therefore chain of causation was broken
Carey
Constructive MS: The act as the cause of death
Confrontation between 2 groups of teenagers. D struck V, who ran away.
Later V collapsed and died of a heart condition which was exacerbated by her fear
Held that while the punch was the dangerous act, it did not cause the death
Dhaliwal
Constructive MS: The act as the cause of death
It is possible to link the use of violence against a vulnerable person to their later suicide where the D causes V to become ill or unstable with a recognised medical condition
Bateman
Gross Negligence MS
The jury must be satisfied that the negligence of the accused went beyond a mere matter of compensation (civil liability) and showed such disregard for the life and safety of others to amount to a crime against the state.
Adomako
Gross Negligence MS
- Must be a breach of a duty of care
- D must have died because of that breach
Only when these factors are made out can the issue be put to the jury to decide whether the negligence was gross enough
Circularity issue: Should involve the jury in the issue of when the criminal law kicks in, as it ought to be for them, as members of the public, to decide when otherwise lawful conduct is so bad that it ought to be a crime
Must follow civil law principles to establish duty of care
Misra and Srivastava, Singh
Gross Negligence MS
Emphasised that in order to make the act criminal there must be a risk of death and nothing less.
Evans
Gross Negligence MS: Duty of Care
Existence of duty is a matter of law to be decided by the trial judge
R v Wacker
Gross Negligence MS: Duty of Care
Even if through the civil law there is no right of action, the criminal law has it’s own public policy, and so therefore it may seek to override the civil law in favour of its own in order to achieve policy objectives