Murder Cases Flashcards
Gibbins and Proctor (1918)
Duty of care, 7 year old girl and father.
Held that their omission to feed her amounted to murder and as they were responsible for her care, it was only appropriate that they were convicted due to their failure to fulfil the DoC.
R v Miller (1983)
D was living in a squat. Fell asleep while smoking a cigarette.
He was convicted on arson on the basis that he failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the fire worsening. This meant that his omission had satisfied the actus reus for arson. By phoning the fire brigade he could’ve avoided criminal liability.
R v Pittwood (1902)
Railway crossing keeper.
It was held that he was under a contractual duty to shut the gate and he failed to do so.
Stone and Dobinson (1977)
Fanny (Stone’s older sister) came to stay with them. F died from malnutrition.
The duty was to either help her or to summon help from other sources. Their failure to do so meant they were in breach of their duty. Guilty of manslaughter.
R v Adams (1957)
Doctor charged with “easing the passing” of elderly patients by giving drugs to hasten their deaths.
If the first purpose of medicine can no longer be achieved, there is still much for the doctor to do, and he is entitled to do all that is proper and necessary to relieve pain and suffering even if measures he takes may incidentally shorten life.
Airedale National Health Trust v Bland (1993)
Crushed in the Hillsborough disaster.
HL likened the situation to an omission. Lord Goff stated that ‘discontinuation of a life support is no different from not initiating life support in the first place’. The HL confirmed that the parents and hospital would not face criminal charges.
Attorney-Generals reference (no3 of 1994)(1997)
D stabbed his pregnant girlfriend.
The fact that the child had not yet been born at the time of the attack did not prevent a murder conviction when it died. However it was not possible to transfer the malice to make the D liable for the murder of the baby.
R v Malcherek and Steel (1981)
He stabbed his wife who was taken into hospital and put on a life support machine.
Held that the victim was determined dead following the brain stem test. The doctors decision did not break the chain of causation; D’s act could be regarded as the cause of V’s death.
R v Pagett (1983)
D took his pregnant girlfriend and held her as a human shield.
It was reasonably foreseeable that the police would return fire if shot at and his conviction was upheld. Would not have happened ‘but for’ Ds actions.
R v Blaue (1975)
Stabbed victim after she refused to have sex with him. Jehovah’s Witness.
The court held that D had to take his victim as he found her, including any religious beliefs she may have.
Smith (1959)
2 soldier had a fight and one was stabbed in the lung by the other.
The original attacker was still guilty of his murder as the negligent medical treatment was not potent enough to break the causal chain
