Paper 1.10f - Gross Negligence Manslaughter Flashcards
What is the definition of involuntary manslaughter and what are the two types?
Unlawful killing of another human being with no malice aforethought.
UDAM and GNM.
What does GNM stand for?
Gross Negligence Manslaughter.
What is gross negligence manslaughter?
D owes V a duty of care but breaches it in a grossly negligent way leading to V’s death.
Can GNM be committed by act, omission or both?
Both - In Evans, V was given heroin by her mother, resulting in her death and her mother’s conviction of GNM by act.
What are the six elements of GNM and the case that sets it out?
Broughton sets of GNM:
- D must owe V a duty of care.
- D breaches this duty.
- There is serious and obvious risk of death at the time.
- The risk was reasonably foreseeable at the time.
- The breach caused V’s death.
- The breach is so gross it is criminal (rather than civil).
What is the case study for element one of GNM: D must owe V a duty of care?
Donoghue v Stevenson - snail in ginger beer.
Adomako - anaesthetist failed to notice disconnected oxygen tube.
Singh - landlord failed to repair faults leading to gas fire.
TRUE OR FALSE: D owes V a duty of care even if d’s activity is illegal.
True - Affirmed in Wacker, where a lorry driver accidentally killed 58 illegal immigrants by starving them of oxygen.
What determines a breach of duty in GNM? Give a case example.
The accused must reach the standard of a reasonably competent equivalent person.
Adomako - anaesthetist failed to notice disconnected oxygen tube.
Bateman - Doctor did not send mother to hospital after home birth, leading to her death.
In GNM, risk of death must be serious and obvious at the time of breach. What does serious and obvious mean, and what case defines this?
Serious - more than minimal, not necessarily life threatening.
Obvious - present and unambiguous, requires no further investigation.
Rose
In GNM, the breach must cause d’s death. What are the three factors of causation?
Factual Causation - ‘but for test’
Legal Causation - ‘significant part in the death - Kimsey’
No Intervening Acts - bad medical care, egg shell skull, free will.
What decides whether the offence of GNM is criminal?
Negligence must be so gross that shows a disregard for human life (Bateman).
