Unlawful Act Manslaughter

Question 1

What should you state first?

Answer 1

X could be liable for the offence of unlawful act manslaughter (UAM)

Which is type of involuntary manslaughter

Question 2

To satisfy actual reus….

Answer 2

There must be a criminal offence. It can’t be a civil wrong (Franklin)

All elements of the crime must be satisfied (Lamb; Arobeike)

The death must be caused by a voluntary act not an omission (Lowe; Kahn & Kahn)

No need to prove that the act was directed at the victim (Goodfellow)

The act must be unlawful from the start not something that later becomes unlawful (Andrews)

State what the base crime is e.g s.20

Question 3

What is the church test?

Answer 3

You must prove that the act is dangerous

It is an objective test (Newbury & Jones)

The sober and reasonable person would recognise the risk of some harm

The sober reasonable person has the same knowledge of the circumstances as the D (Dawson; Watson; Carey)

Question 4

What is the mr for uam

Answer 4

The mr for the base crime

Question 5

What is the men’s rea for s.20

Answer 5

Intention to cause some harm or recklessness as to whether some harm might occur (Mowatt; DPP v A)