mens rea Flashcards
what is the mens rea for murder
intention to kill or cause GBH
-Express malice aforethought, which is intent to kill
or
implied malice aforethought which is intent to cause GBH
direct intention to kill or cause GBH key case
Vickers
Vickers
key case for direct intention
D broke into Vs sweet shop, he knew that the owner was an old lady who was deaf. The owner came into the cellar to find the D. He attacked V by punching her and kicking her in the head when she discovered him, she died from the injuries.
Intent to cause GBH resulting in the death of V was enough to imply the necessary intention to commit murder
Indirect intention
D did not intend a particular result but in acting the way they did, realized it may occur
key cases: Moloney and Hancock and Shankland and Nedrick, Woolin and Matthews and Alleyne
Moloney (1985)
D was drinking with the v, they had a contest to see who could load his gun and be ready to fire first, D was quicker pointed his gun at the V and shot him, killing him instantly.
On appeal - held that for nothing less than the actual intention to kill or cause serious harm should be the MR for murder
Foresight of consequences was not intention but is evidence for what a jury can infer intention
Hancock and Shankland (1986)
D’s were striking miners who knew a taxi carrying men breaking the strike to work would pass along the road, they waited on a bridge above and dropped a concrete block which hit the taxi, killing the driver. D’s claimed they intended to block the road, not kill or injure anyone.
On appeal - Hof L held the degree of probability of death/ injury is of paramount importance.
the greater the probability of a consequence the more likely it is that the consequence was foreseen, if the foreseen the greater the probability it was intended
Nedrick (1986)
D poured paraffin through the letterbox of a house with the intention of frightening the women who lived there. A child died in the resulting fire
created the virtual certainty test
do the jury feel that death or serious injury was the virtually certain result of the Ds voluntary actions
Did the D foresee that death was the virtual certain result of his act
if both parts answer ‘yes’ they can reasonably infer that the D intended the consequences if his act
Virtual certainty test
do the jury feel that death or serious injury was the virtually certain result of the Ds voluntary actions
Did the D foresee that death was the virtual certain result of his act
if both parts answer ‘yes’ they can reasonably infer that the D intended the consequences if his act
MUST
Woolin (1998)
D lost his temper while feeding his baby son and threw the baby against the wall, the baby died of its injuries
edited the virtual certainty test - the jury must rather than infer
Matthews and Alleyne (2003)
Ds threw the v from a bridge into a river and knew he could not swim, and drowned before he could reach safety. The V drowned
Foresight of consequences as being the same intention is more of a rule than evidence, a jury is entitled to find the existence of intention but does not necessarily have to.
