Murder Flashcards
What is murder?
A common law defence = no statute to define it
What helps define murder?
Edward Coke 1797 guidelines - 'unlawful killing' 'any reasonable creature' 'under the Kings peace' 'malice aforethought' (mens rea) 'within any country of the realm' 'death within a year and a day' NO MORE
What is the actus reus of murder?
An unlawful killing (a defence such as self defence will make the killing lawful)
What must be established in murder?
Factual and legal causation
What are the problems with the guideline involving any reasonable creature?
Is a foetus a human?
R v Poulton 1832 - mother tied string around babies neck whilst it was being born and it died.
It was said for a baby to be a person it must be fully expelled from its mothers body
What was the clarification of a foetus being a person?
Found in case of Brain 1834 - baby must be fully expelled but breathing is not essential
What is another case for an example of the confusion between foetus and person?
Attorney Generals Reference 1997 - stabbed girlfriend in stomach, she was fine, baby was born prematurely but died of stab injuries 4 weeks later. Was he responsible for the death as actus reus occurred before child was a ‘person’?
What is another problem with the ‘reasonable creature’ guideline?
At what stage in a process of death does a person become a corpse? Such as the life support cases - Malcherck and Steel 1981
What does the guideline under the Kings/Queens peace mean?
Any time other than a course of war. It is legal to commit murder during war time as it is not restricted under the Queens peace.
However, you cannot go out and kill anyone, this is still illegal
What does the guideline within any country of the realm mean?
You can still be prosecuted for an offence under the English law IF you are a British Citizen, you just need to be brought back to this country for prosecution
What does the guideline within a year and a day mean and why has it now been abolished?
Abolished by Law Reform (a year and a day) Act 1996
In the past if you had committed murder the victim was likely to die within a year and a day because of the lack of medical support, now we have support that could mean you could die years after the original actus reus
If you are looking to prosecute a long time after the original offence what approval do you need?
Attorney General as there are some restrictions on when it can be used under S2(2) of the Law Reform Act 1996
What is malice aforethought not associated with?
Pre-meditation, it is the mens rea aspect of the crime
Either intended to kill (express malice)
Or intended to cause GBH (implied malice)
Explain the case R v Vickers 1957…
Buglary in shop, V hiding, D beat him up and V died from shock GUILTY OF MURDER
Explain the case R v Cunningham 1982…
D hits V with chair in pub, D dies from the GBH GUILTY OF MURDER
