MURDER

Question 1

DEFINITION

Answer 1

Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being under the King’s peace with malice aforethought express or implied by law (Lord Coke)

Question 2

ACTUS REUS = THE UNLAWFUL KILLING

Answer 2

Positive act or an omission. If by omission, there must have been a duty in law to act (omission)

Question 3

OMISSIONS

Answer 3

1) Parents/ child (R v Gibbons & Proctor)
2) Voluntarily assumed responsibility (R v Stone & Dobinson)
3) Contractual duty (R v PIttwood)
4) Public duty (R v Dytham)
5) Started chain of events (R v Miller)
6) Statutory duty - s170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988

Question 4

KILLING NOT DEEMED LAWFUL IF …

Answer 4

Turning off life-support (R v Malcharek)
Operating to save one patient but killing another (Re A.)

Question 5

HUMAN BEING

Answer 5

A foetus is not a human being (AG’s Ref No.3 1994)
- Reasonable being is any person that can survive independently from its mother

Question 6

KING’S PEACE

Answer 6

D has not killed V in battle (R v Page)
- Anyone under the King’s realm is entitled to live in peace, at war they are not under peace

Question 7

CAUSATION

Answer 7

1) Factual - D will only be liable if the consequence would not have happened ‘but for’ their unlawful act or omission (R v White)
2) Legal - D has caused the unlawful outcome if his conduct contributes to it in a more than minimal way and is the operating and substantiating cause of death (R v Smith)

Question 8

NOVUS ACTUS INTERVENIENS

Answer 8

• Act of third party - ( must be operating and substantial cause/ more than a minimal cause (R v Smith),
• Medical negligence : must be extra-ordinary (R v Cheshire)
• V’s own action’s - will not break the chain of causation if reasonably foreseeable (R v Roberts)
• Act of god ?

Thin skull rule : D must take the V as they find them (R v Blaue)

Question 9

MENS REA = MALICE AFORETHOUGHT

Answer 9

1) Express malice: where D intends to kill V
- D may have direct intent: Aim/ desires V’s death (R v Mohan/ Belfon)
- Oblique intent: V’s death is a virtual certainty due to D’s actions and D realises this (Woolin)
2) Implied malice: where D intends to cause GBH (DPP v Smith) and V dies (Vickers)
- D may have direct intent (Mohan/Belfon) or oblique intent (Woolin)

Either express or implied malice is sufficient for D to be found guilty or murder