Voluntary Manslaughter - Diminished responsibility

Question 1

Where is Diminished responsibility defined under

Answer 1

S52 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009

Question 2

What is DR defined as

Answer 2

S52. A person is not to be convicted of murder if suffering from an abnormality of mental function which

• arose from a recognized medical condition
• substantially impaired D’s ability to
  
  • understand the nature of D’s conduct
  • From a rational judgment
  • exercise self-control
• provides and explanation for D’s acts and omissions in doing or being a party to killing i.e it caused D to kill or is a significant contributory factor

Question 3

What most D do to achive DR

Answer 3

D must prove the defence on the balance of probabilities - must establish all 4 elements before D can avoid a murder conviction

Question 4

Elements of defence DR

Answer 4

1 - D suffers from an abnormality of mental functioning
a - which arises from a recognised medical condition
b - which subtantianially impaired D’s ability to do one or more things.
c - and provides an explanation for D’s acts and omissions in doing or being a party to the killing

Question 5

‘Abnormality of mental function’

Answer 5

Byrne -
Facts - D was a psychopath unable to control his desires and killed V
Ratio - Abnormality means ‘a state of mind so different from that of the ordinary human being’s that the reasonable man would term it abnormal.’

Question 6

‘Arising from a recognised medical condition’

Answer 6

2 doctors must be called as expert witness
Mental conditions that DR covers - 
Psychopathy - byrne
depression - Seers
Paranoia - Martin
Epilepsy - Campbell
Battered Woman Syndrome - Hobson

Question 7

‘Substantially impaired D’s mental ability’

Answer 7

Lloyd - the abnormality must be more than trivial or minimal (confirmed by Golds)

Question 8

what are the 3 mental abilities

Answer 8

• understand the nature of D’s conduct, e.g cut someone’s head off thinking he is slicing bread/meat
• form a rational judgement, e.g D thinks irrationally, that V is persecuting him about to attack (paranoia)
• exercise self-control, e.g D knows that he is strangling and mutilating V and that this is wrong, but D has an uncontrollable urge to do it.

Question 9

‘Provides an explanation for the killing’

Answer 9

The abnormality must explain why D killed i.e. there is a causal connection between the abnormality of mental function and the killing.