mens rea Flashcards
booklet 4
what is mens rea
guilty mind
what are the two elements of mens rea
objective and subjective
what does it mean by subjective
What the Defendant personally thinks/intends/believes.
what does it mean by objective
What the reasonable, average member of society would think or know.
why does intention matter
because if d accidently does something it means they don’t have a guilty mind as its not what they intended to happen- they had no motive behind their actions
what are the two types of intention
direct and oblique
what is direct intention
The Defendant takes action to bring about a result which in fact occurs. D wants a specific outcome and takes steps to make it happen e.g follows someone so they can shoot them and succeeds
what is oblique intention
The Defendant takes action to bring about a desired result, but by doing so they are aware that some other consequence will also happen. They do not especially desire the additional consequence, but they are aware that it is virtually certain. e.g person puts bomb in cockpit to kill pilot but kills everyone else onboard too
two cases for oblique intention
first- fire
R v Nedrick (1986)
D poured petrol through the letterbox of a woman he held a grudge against. He lit fire to it and a child died in the fire. He claimed he had not seen the death as a probable outcome.
two cases for oblique intention
second- baby
R v Woollin (1999)
D became overwhelmed with his baby’s crying and choking and in his frustration threw the 3 month old towards his pram. He missed, the baby hitting the wall then the floor. The impact killed the baby.
recklessnesst
defendant knows there is a risk of the consequence happening but takes the risk anyway
two cases for recklessness
first- money leakage
R v Cunningham (1957)
Defendant ripped a gas meter off the wall to steal the money inside. He did not realize the gas would seep out of the meter. It did do so, poisoning his mother in law who was asleep in the flat next door.
two cases for recklessness
second- co-op
R v G and R (2003)
The Defendants were aged 11 and 12 as set fire to some newspapers near a wheelie bin behind a Co-Op shop. They left without putting out the fire, causing over £1m damage.
recklessness- not guilty case
elliot v c
A 14-year-old girl of low intelligence started a fire in a shed to keep warm. The fire spread and burnt down the shed.
negligence
A person becomes negligent when they fail to meet the standards of the reasonable man.
D will be guilty because he did not act as a reasonable man would have done in the circumstances.
What D intends or thinks is irrelevant
Similar to being careless in your actions.
