unlawful act manslaughter Flashcards
background information
killing without intention to kill or cause GBH
max sentence life but judge has discretion to impose any suitable sentence
common law offence
4 parts to the crime
must do unlawful act
unlawful act must be dangerous on objective test
act must cause death
d must have required mens rea for the unlawful act
unlawful act
death must be caused by unlawful act
lamb- no assault no unlawful act, lamb and frend were fooling round with revolver and didnt realise the chamber turned so the bullet from the next chamber would be fired
must be an act not an omission
lowe- convicted of wilfully neglecting baby son and of manslaughter, quashed the conviction of wilgul neglct involve a failure to act and this could not support unlawful act manslaughter
khan and khan- d supplied young wman with heroin, injected herself and went into a coma, returned to find her dead the nect day, quashed conviction as no unlawful act, omission to get help not act for purposes of unlawful act manslaughter
eg. robbery burglary criminal damage arson
dangerous
unlawful act must be dangerous on objective test from church
all sober and reasonable people would recognise must subject the other person to the risk of some harm resulting therefrom albeit not serious harm
d does not have to realise the risk of some harm it is whether a sober and reasonable person would realise the risk of some harm
larkin- d threatened man would cut throat razor, mistress tried to intervene fell onto blade, d unlawful act was assault and also dangerous as it was likely to injure someone
not necessary for sober and reasonable person to foresee type of harm victim suffers it is enough they foresee some harm
jm and sm- two brother fight with doormen at nightcub, during fight one of doormen collapsed and died shortyl after through loss of bloody as his renal artery had ruptured, injury could not have been foreseen, sober and reasonable person only have to foresee some harm
does not need to be aimed at a specific person
goodfellow- d decided to burn down council flat so hed be rehoused, fire went out of control killed his wife son and another woman, d guilty, all elements of unlawul act manslaughter were present, act intentional unlwful caused the death and reasoable people would recognise it may cause some harm to another person
risk of harm refers to only physical harm
dawson- 3 s tried to rob petrol station, attendant raised alarm but had heart attack and died, not manslaughter causing him fear through attempted robbery was not dangerous act, as harm to v was not objectively foreseeable this element was not satisfied and therfore there was no liability for uam
watson-2 d threw brick through v window and broken in intending o steal property, v was 87 heard noise and came to see what happened, d verablly abused v and left, v died of heart attack 90mins later, guilty
mens rea for unlawful act
d must have mens rea for unlawful act
intention or recklessness as to the application of unlawful force
d not need to realise act is unlawful or dangerous
newbury and jones-2 teenage boys pushed piece of paving stone off railway bridge onto line as train approached, killed guard, not necessary to prove d foresaw any harm from their act as long as the act was objectively dangerous and the d had necessary mens rea for unlawful act
