Unlawful Act Manslaughter Flashcards
Definition UAM (constructive mans)
- form of involuntary mans
- lacks MR
- D commits unlawful dangerous act- results in death
Elements
1) Unlawful act
2) Act must be dangerous on- objective test
3) Act must cause death
4) D required MR for unlawful act
1) Unlawful Act
R v Franklin- civil wrong (tort) not enough- must be crime
R v Lamb- D fired gun at friend- both believed no bullet in chamber- Law- must be unlawful for charge of mans- no assault, no violence feared
R v Lowe- baby- failed care- must be act not omission
2) Dangerous Act- R v Church- objective test ‘Would a sober and reasonable person realise the risk of some harm?’
R v Larkin- threatened man- razor, women fell died- committed UA- need not be directed at victim, act must be objectively dangerous- likely to cause some harm
R v Mitchell- pushed queue, post office- DA- doesn’t need to be targeted at victim
Similar cases
R v Dawson- robbed petrol station, attendant died heart attack- must be risk of physical harm- fear is not enough- No conviction. Test- ‘would reasonable people recognise that attendant was likely to siffer some harm?’- test unsatisfied
R v Watson- burglary- physically abused 87yr old man- died heart attack-
conviction quashed couldn’t establish break in was cause of heart attack. However, C.O.A- held that sober and reasonable person would regard act of D as dangerous- aware of age and frail condition of the victim.
Against property
R v Goodfellow- set fire to flat (3 died)- convicted UA need not be directed at person
From case- how to analyse essay questions
All elements of UA manslaughter were present
Unlawful = arson
Reasonable people would recognise that fire to flat might cause some harm to another person – there was an obvious risk that someone in the flat might be hurt.
Act caused deaths.
D had the MR of arson intended to set fire to flat
3) Causation (D’s act must cause death of V)
R v Kennedy- D supplied drug- V self injected- died. Self injection broke chain of causation- D not guilty of mans
4) Mens Rea
D must have MR of offence not necessary to prove D foresaw any harm from his/ her act
DPP v Newbury and Jones- pushed paving stone onto passing train- guard killed
