Murder Flashcards
Murder - Definition
Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being under the kings peace with malice aforethought or implied by law.
Lord Coke
Murder - AR unlawful killing
Positive act- hitting, stabbing, shooting, kicking, punching, biting
Omission- parental (Gibbons + Proctor), assumed (Stone + Dobinson), chain of events (Miller), contractual (Pitwood), public (Dytham), s170 Road traffic act 1988
Murder - AR human being
Must be human not a foetus (AG’s ref NO.3 1994).
Has to be a reasonable creature
Lawful killings include life support turning off (Malcharek) and operating on a child (Re.AL)
Murder - AR kings peace
D has not killed v in battle (Page)
Murder - Causation
Factual ‘but for’ test (White)
Legal more than minimal operating substantiating cause (Smith)
Murder - Causation
Factual ‘but for’ test (White)
Legal more than minimal operating substantiating cause (Smith)
Murder - Causation intervening acts
Act of 3rd party - operating and substantiating cause (Smith)
Medical negligence - extraordinary circumstances (Cheshire)
V’s own actions - reasonably foreseeable (Roberts)
Act of god
Thin skull rule - D must take V as they find them (Blaue)
Murder - MR express malice
D intends to kill
D has direct intent : desires v’s death (Belfon)
Oblique intent : v’s death is a virtual certainty and D realises this (Woolin)
Murder - MR implied malice
Where D intends to cause GBH, really serious harm and v dies (Vickers)
D may have direct intention (Belfon)
Oblique intent (Woolin)
Murder - Other rules
Transferred malice ( Mitchell, Latimer, Pebilton)
D can be liable if they have MR for crime against unintended v - MR transferred (Latimer) but only for the same offence (Mitchell)
Coincidence rule (Fagan v MPC) (Thabo Meli)
D did not know they were committing crime but carried on so AR will continue until MR (Fagan v MPC). D had MR but AR later, MR established chain of events (Thabo Meli)
