Voluntary Manslaughter combined

Question 1

Creates 3 partial defences to murder

Answer 1

Homicide act 1957 & the Coroners and Justice Act 2009

Question 2

Does a killing by D result from D’s loss of control?

Answer 2

S.54(1)(a) - CJA 2009

Question 3

Does D’s loss of self control satisfy a qualifying trigger?

Answer 3

s.54(1)(b)

Question 4

Normal person test
Might a person of D’s age, sex, with a normal degree of tolerance and self restraint, and in the circumstances of D, react in the same or similar way

Answer 4

s.54(1)(c)

Question 5

Loss of control is not always sudden

Answer 5

s.54(2)

Question 6

Revenge = instantly failed defence

Answer 6

s.54(4)

Question 7

D was tired, sleeping badly and unable to think straight (not real loss of control)

Answer 7

Jewell 2014

Question 8

Trigger one

Answer 8

s.55(3) -Fear of violence

Question 9

D lost control and killed V after V attacked D with a baseball bat

Answer 9

Lodge - Jury accepted that D lost control in response to serious violence

Question 10

Trigger two

Answer 10

s.55(4) - Things said or done (extreme graveness)

Question 11

D murdered 94 year old father who shit himself

Answer 11

Zebedee- Failed as shit didn’t constitute grave nature. No sense of being seriously wronged

Question 12

Doughty

Answer 12

Named case - Baby crying constitutes trigger

Question 13

Thing said or done constitutes sexual infidelity

Answer 13

Disregarded as in “Dawes 2013”

Question 14

Both triggers together

Answer 14

s.55(5)

Question 16

The normal person test

Answer 16

s.54(1)(c)

Question 17

Intoxication is not taken into account when regarding reasonableness

Answer 17

Asmelash

Question 18

D was violently sexually abused as a child and killed V who tried the same thing again

Answer 18

Hill (2008) - The normal person souls have to be considered as having a history of sexual assault. Applied here

Question 19

s.2 Homicide act 1957 as amended by s.52 Coroners and Justice act 2009

Answer 19

Diminished responsibility

Question 20

Abnormality of mental functioning

Answer 20

s.52(1)

Question 21

Which arose from. Recognised medical condition

Answer 21

s.52(1)(a)

Question 22

Which must have substantially impaired D’s ability to:

Answer 22

s.52(1)(b)

Question 23

Impair their ability to understand their conduct

Answer 23

s.52(1A)(a)

Question 24

Impair their ability to form a rational judgement

Answer 24

s.52(1A)(b)

Question 25

Impair their ability to exercise self control

Answer 25

s.52(1A)(c)

Question 26

Provides an explanation for D’s conduct

Answer 26

s.52(1)(c)

Question 27

D suffered violent and perverted sexual desires since childhood. He murdered and mutilated V’s body whilst suffering from irresistible urge

Answer 27

Byrne 1960 - Voluntary manslaughter reduction as condition amounts to abnormality

Question 28

Recognised medical condition examples and cases:

• Deitschmann
• Seers
• Hobson

Answer 28

• Adjustment disorder
• Depression
• BSS

Question 29

Intoxication as a defence

Answer 29

Di Duca - Intoxication itself cannot be used to support DR as it is not a medical condition

Question 30

Intoxication disregarded entirely if medical condition is the actual cause even while intoxicated

Answer 30

Dietschmann

Question 31

Alcohol dependency syndrome

Answer 31

Wood - recognised condition = Defence

Question 32

Triggers are not met if they were incited by D to provide an excuse for murder

Answer 32

s.55(6)(a/b)