Unlawful Act Manslaughter

Question 1

What is the first element of UAM?

Answer 1

1. There must be an unlawful act:
   - Must be a positive act not an omission (R v Lowe)
   - Must be a crime (Lamb)
   - Can be any crime (Larkin) and property damage (Newbury & Jones)
   - Need not to be aimed at V (Mitchell)

Question 2

What is the second element?

Answer 2

2. The unlawful act must be dangerous.
   - Dangerous = objective test : The reasonable and sober man would regard it as dangerous and carries a risk of harm occurring
   - Objective test established in (Church)
   - D does not need to realise the risk of harm, or specific type of harm (Newbury and Jones)

Question 3

What is the third test for UAM?

Answer 3

(a) factual causation : “but for” test (white)
(b) legal causation : “more than minimal” test (Pagett)
- if D injects V with drugs and cause death, then he is liable for UAM (Cato)
- Where D supplies drugs to V but V voluntarily injects themselves, V breaks causation

Question 4

What is the final element of UAM?

Answer 4

4. MR of the unlawful act
   - D must have the mens rea for the unlawful act; D need not know the act is unlawful or dangerous (Newbury and Jones)
   - D does not require additional mens rea for the death