Murder Flashcards
Define murder’ Lord Coke
The unlawful killing of a reasonable creature in being under the King’s peace with malice aforethought express or implied
AR - Unlawful killing & case
Can arise from an act or omission
Gibbins & Proctor - omission was criminal as they had a duty to act
AR - reasonable creature in being
- Victim must be a reasonable creature in being at the time of the defendant’s act causing death
What is excluded in being a ‘reasonable creature in being’
A foetus is not classed as a human being- AG ref no. 3 of 1994
Life support machines - Does not break chain of causation, V is classified as dead if they are brain dead
AR - Under the King’s peace & case
- If the killing did not take place during the course of war then it amounts to murder
Adeboajo - guilty of murder as he was not acting during the course of war
Why is causation an important part of murder?
It must be proven that the D caused V’s death
What is meant by factual causation?
‘but for’ test - But for D’s actions, would the outcome have still occurred?
case for factual causation
R v White - but for D’s act of poisoning his mother, would she have lived? Not the case as she died due to a heart attack, not the poison itself
What is meant by legal causation?
Was D more than a minimal cause of death or injury?
Case for legal causation
R v Pagett - D was the operating and substantial cause of his pregnant girlfriend’s death by using her as a human shield against police officers
Thin skull rule
R v Blaue- V has a religious belief, phobia or pre existing condition that worsens the situation
- Does not break causation, must take V as you find them
Third party intervention
3rd party makes the situation worse
R v Padgett - not reasonably forceable that the police would act as a third party, worsening the situation
Medical treatment
Negligent medical treatment will only make the situation worse where the treatment was so overwhelmingly bad as to be gross, it renders D’s actions insignificant to the final injury
Jordan - must be ‘so palpably wrong’
what two ways can D have intention to kill?
Direct - D intends to kill V
Indirect - D does not intend the particular consequences of the act, but death was a virtual certainty and D must have been aware of this
Woolin - threw baby at a wall, death was a virtual certain outcome
Nedrick
If D does not have intention for murder, what other offence can it be?
D has intention to cause grievous bodily harm
Vickers - intention to inflict GBH which results in death is sufficient for the MR of murder
