murder Flashcards
booklet 10
definition of murder
'’causing unlawful death of a human being under the kings peace with malice aforethought’’- sir Edward Coke
aforethought meaning
pre-meditated
what type of offence is it
common law offence
actus reus
causing
unlawful death
human being
kings peace
causing
usual rules of causation
factual cause (R v White)
legal cause more than de minimus (r v kimsey)
chain of causation (thin skull rule)
unlawful death cases
Re A (conjoined twins)
Airedale NHS trust v Bland
R v Clegg
when may causing death be legal
if d has a valid defense (e.g self defense)
if they are a doctor who is withdrawing treatment
Re A (conjoined twins)
got a court order to say fr can operate on twins- 1 would defo die
Airedale NHS trust v Bland
V left in vegetative state so could lawfully have treatment to end his life as wasn’t going to get better
R v Clegg
death was unlawful as self defense was not necessary as there was no longer a threat
of a human being cases (3)
AGs ref
R v Malcherek
R v Inglis
AGs ref- what did this tell us
foetus is not legally recognized as a human being
R v Malcherek- what did this tell us
someone on life support who is considered ‘brain stem dead’ is no longer alive in the eyes of the law
R v Inglis- what did this tell us
a victim with brain damage however severe is still classed as a human being
under the kings peace meaning
a soldier who kills during wartime is not guilty of murder as the death was not under the kings peace
mens rea
what is malice aforethought
intention to kill
or
intention to commit GBH
malice aforethought cases- intention to kill
R v Mohan
R v Nedrick/R v Woollin
R v Mohan
was a conscious decision to bring about action
R v Nedrick/R v Woollin
virtual certain consequence of indirect or oblique intention
intention to commit gbh- implied malice cases
R v Vickers
R v Cunningham 1982 (diff to usual one)
R v Vickers
intent and succeed to really hurt someone and they died- them not dying wouldn’t be much different
R v Cunningham 1982
confirmed R v Vickers is still a good law and that if you intended GBH and not death you’ll still be guilty for murder as that person is just lucky that they didn’t kill the victim
