Murder Flashcards
Murder
Common law offence - lord coke
Indictable
Carries mandatory life sentence
Murder
Definition
The unlawful killing of a reasonable creature in being no under the kings peace with malice aforethought, express or implied
Killing must be unlawful
Lawful if it is in self defence, prevention of a crime, or protection of another
Kings peace
Killing of an enemy in war isn’t murder
Reasonable creature in being
Foetus
Child has to have an existence independent of the mother before
Umbilical cord need not be cut but it has to have been expelled from the womb and taken a breath
AG ref no3 1994
If foetus is injured and child born alive but later dies, this can be the actus reus for murder or manslaughter
Reasonable creature in being
Brain dead
Malcherek 1981
Doctors not liable for cutting off life support
Doesn’t break chain of causation
Year and a day rule
Originally death must’ve occurred with a year and a day of the unlawful act
Meant the v was kept of life support for longer
Abolished in 1996
No time limit
Have to get special permission after 3 years by the AG
Causation for murder
Factual cause of the consequence
Legal cause of the consequence
No intervening act breaking chain of causation
Murder
Mens rea
Malice afore thought express or implied
Afore thought express
Intention to kill
Afore thought implied
Intention to cause GBH which results in death
Vickers 1957
D broke cellar of old lady’s sweet shop
Punched and kicked her in the head
Died of injuries
Implied
Cunningham 1981
D hit v on head with a stool
V died of injuries
Implied
Murder
Foresight of consequence
S8 CJA 1967
D would intend or forsee that death or really serious harm/injury could be caused
Main problem with cases where D did not obviously intend GBH or death but it still resulted in death
D doesn’t have mens rea for murder unless he foresaw that he would cause death or serious injury
