omissions cases- criminal law Flashcards
R v Pittwood (contractual duty)
A railway crossing keeper omitted to shut the gates so that a person crossing the line was struck and killed by a train. d was guilty of manslaughter, because of his failure to close the gate.
R v Adomako (contractual duty)
D (an anaesthetic) was undertaking his role in an eye surgery, when under his supervision a crucial tube became disconnected from the patients ventilator and they suffered a cardiac arrest. D was convicted of manslaughter, by breach of duty.
R v Gibbins and Proctor (special relationship between the parties)
Child’s father and his mistress failed to feed the child so it died of starvation. They had a duty to feed the child because of their parent-child relationship. Therefore they had duty to act. Their omission to act formed the AR of the offence and they were guilty of murder.
R v Dytham (positive duty to act and contractual)
D (police officer) witnessed a violent attack on the victim but took no steps to intervene or summon help: instead he drove away from the scene. The officer was guilty of wilfully and without reasonable excuse neglecting to perform his duty.
R v Stone and Dobinson (voluntarily accepting responsibility for another)
Stones elderly sister came to live with the defendants. She then became ill and unable to care for herself and eventually died. 2 Ds were convicted of manslaughter. They had already undertaken some care of her so owed her a duty of care either to help her themselves or to summon help from other sources. This failure meant that they were in breach of their duty and formed the AR of the crime.
R v Miller (creating a dangerous situation)
D (a squatter) fell asleep in an empty house, his lit cigarette fell onto his mattress and started a fire. When he realised he left the room and fell asleep in another. He did not attempt to put out the fire or summon help. He was guilty of arson under s1 Criminal Damage Act 1971
R v evans (creating a dangerous situation and special relationship between parties)
The victim was a 16-year-old heroin addict, her half-sister brought some heroin and gave it to her, who then injected it herself. It became obvious that she overdosed, but neither the mother nor half-sister tried to get medical help. Instead, they put her to bed and hope she would recover but she died. The mother owed a duty of care to her daughter and the half-sister had created a situation, which she knew was life threatening and therefore owed her a duty.
