Murder cases

Question 1

Attorney General’s Reference (no3 of 1994)(1997)

‘reasonable creature in being’

Answer 1

• The D stabbed his girlfriend who was 23 weeks pregnant. She gave birth prematurely 7 weeks after the stabbing.
• The baby was born alive but died at four months.
• The trial judge directed that the foetus was not ‘a reasonable creature in being’ so the D could not be guilty of murder or manslaughter.

HofL- the trial judge was correct in his reasoning but this only applied where the foetus died before being born.

• In this case violence towards a foetus in the uterus that leads to harm after the baby has been born can give rise to criminal responsibility.
• The D was convicted of the manslaughter of the baby as he lacked the MR for murder.

Question 2

Re A (Children) (Conjoined twins) (2000)

‘unlawful killing’

Answer 2

• Twin girls were born joined together at the lower abdomen. One twin was stronger and could survive on her own
• The other depended on blood from a common shared artery and her sister’s stronger heart. If they were separated then the weaker twin would die. If the doctors did not separate them, then they would both die at around 6 months.
• The parents refused permission to separate them so the hospital sought clarification from the courts. The CofA gave permission and the weaker twin died.

Question 3

Beckford (1988)

Reasonable force

Answer 3

• The D was a police officer in Jamaica who shot a man dead because the man had a gun and he thought his own life was in danger.
• The man did not have a gun but the D was convicted of murder.
• On appeal to the Privy Council, his conviction was quashed - the jury should have considered whether the D’s believe that his life was in danger was a genuine belief. The is significant as it negates the intent to act unlawfully.