The Defences of Insanity And Automatism:

Question 1

Internal or external?

Answer 1

Internal = insanity (hospital order)
External = automatism (full defence)

Question 2

Insanity: Apply the 3-part test set out in the M’Naghten Rules

Answer 2

● D must be suffering from a defect of reason
● caused by a disease of the mind
● which has caused D to not know the nature and quality of the act OR not know that what they were doing was legally wrong

Question 3

Insanity: Defect of reason

Answer 3

Ask: has the D lost the ability to make rational decisions?
Simply being confused or absent-minded is not enough.

Question 4

Insanity: Disease of the mind

Answer 4

● Can include a physical condition, does not have to be a mental condition
● Can be something the D suffers with occasionally, does not have to be a permanent condition
● Examples of INTERNAL physical conditions have included: diabetes; epilepsy; blood condition

Question 5

Insanity: Nature and quality of the act:

Answer 5

Means that D has no understandung of what they had done - eg: I was strangling a snake that was attacking me, when in fact D was strangling V to death.

Question 6

Insanity: Legally wrong

Answer 6

Only consider this if D does know the legal nature of their act.
Then ask the question: did D know that what they did was illegal?
If the answer is NO: the defence succeeds
If the answer is YES: the defence fails

Question 7

Automatism: definition given in Bratty

Answer 7

“An act done by the muscles without any control by the mind, such as a spasm.”
Essentially = anything done by the D if they are not conscious that they are doing it.

Question 8

Automatism: D acts without any control by the mind

Answer 8

This means total destruction of voluntary control.

Question 9

Automatism: The cause is external

Answer 9

Things that the court have found to amount to an external cause include:
- A swarm of bees
- A blow to the head
- Taking too much medication (accidentally, if there is any evidence that this was self-induced then the defence FAILS)
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (caused by an external event).

Question 10

Automatism: it is not self induced

Answer 10

If the automatism is self-induced then the defence will fail.
Look for ANY evidence that D was the cause of the automatism.

Question 11

Complete defence

Answer 11

If the 3-part test is complete - it is a FULL defence. This is why a D prefers to rely on this rather than the defence of intoxication or insanity.