Murder Flashcards
Murder definition
An act or omission which causes the death of a human being under the Queen`s Peace, the act or omission having been done with the intention to cause death or grievous bodily harm to some [any] human being
Murder by omission
R v Matthews and Alleyne
Threw a guy in a river then left him to die
For murder by omission must be some DofC that is failed to discharge
Re B
Hospital battered woman by feeding her without consent. Allowing her to starve would not be murder bc there is no DofC to someone who wants to die
Withdrawing treatment of a comatose patient is not murder
Airedale NHS Trust v Bland
Withdrawing artificial treatment seen as omission rather than positive act
Water and feeding seen as treatment rather than basic care
Seen as best interest to stop
Causation of death may be a sequence
R v Thabo Meli
Threw guy they thought they killed off a cliff
Actus reus combined with earlier mens rea
A foetus does not constitute a human being, ust be independent of it’s mother
Att-Gen’s Ref (no3 of 1994)
GBH sufficient mens rea
R v Cunningham
Hits guy in head with chair
HofL now regrets making GBH sufficient but it is
3 cases
Att-Gen’s Ref (no3 of 1994)
R v Powell and Daniels
R v Rahman
Intent to kill
Does not mean you desire death
R v Steane
Did radio broadcasts for Germany during WW2 under threat of concentration camp. Needed to not intend to help them. Probably believed it was necessary to help the enemy to save his family.But if he didn’t think it would help there was no intent
Defendant must foresee death as a consequence of his act
R v Moloney
Shot his step-father drunkenly not realising the gun was pointed at him
No need to direct jury on meaning of intention in cases of direct intent
Voluntary intoxication and murder
Murder is a specific intent offence so Majewski doesn’t apply. Must truly have intent of murder/gbh and intoxication may raise doubts about whether that is there
R v Lipman
LSD and killing a snake in the centre of the earth
Indirect intention test
R v Nedrick
R v Woollin
Must be virtual certainty that death will be brought about, understood by the Defendant that this is the case
