Voluntary Manslaughter (LC&DR) Flashcards
ss54-55 Coroners & Justice Act 2009
s54(1) D is not to be convicted of murder if -
a. D’s acts and omissions in doing or being a party to the killing resulted from D’s loss of self-control
b. the loss of self-control had a qualifying trigger, AND
c. a person of D’s sex and age, with a normal degree of tolerance and self-restraint and in the circumstances of D might have reacted in the same or in a similar way to D
s55(6)(a-b) Coroners & Justice Act 2009 (JOHNSON)
fear/anger triggers cannot be raised if D incited the situation themselves and as an excuse to use violence against v
s55(6)(c) Coroners & Justice Act 2009
sexual infidelity on its own is explicitly excluded as an anger trigger
Sands
D killed pedo out of fear for safety of children and anger at his dismissive behaviour when confronted on past
s55(5) Coroners & Justice Act 2009
A combination of
s55(3) - fear trigger; and
s55(4) - anger trigger
s55(4) Coroners & Justice Act 2009
Things said or done which
a. constituted circumstances of an extremely grave character, and
b. caused D to have a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged.
This is an objective test - the jury decide if the reasonable man would have felt seriously wronged.
s55(3) Coroners & Justice Act 2009
D fears serious violence from V against D or another identified person
The test is subjective - as long as D’s fear of serious violence is genuine, it does not need to be a reasonable belief
s54(2) Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (AHLUWALIA)
It does not matter whether or not the loss of control was sudden.
If there is a delay between the trigger and the killing the jury will decide whether D was not in control.
Ahluwalia - defence might now be allowed as D did not calm down in the two-hour delay period between her husband’s threats and setting him on fire.
s54(1)(c) Coroners & Justice Act 2009
The jury will decide whether a person of D’s age and sex, with a normal degree of tolerance and self-restraint and in D’s circumstances, might have reacted in the same or similar way to D.
s52(1)(c) Coroners & Justice Act 2009
the abnormality of mental functioning must cause, or be a significant contributory factor in causing D to carry out that conduct or omission in killing
s52(1)(b) Coroners & Justice Act 2009
D’s mental ability is substantially impaired if he cannot:
s52(1A)
a. understand the nature of his conduct
b. form a rational judgement
c. exercise self-control
s52(1)(a) Coroners & Justice Act 2009
Abnormality of mental functioning must be caused by a ‘recognised medical condition’
s2 Homicide Act 1957 (amended by s52 Coroners & Justice Act 2009)
D was suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning from a recognised medical condition which substantially impaired D’s ability to do one three specified things and explains D’s act or omission in killing
Reynolds
post-natal depression is a recognised medical condition
R v Jewell
D is not in control if he has lost the ability to ‘act with considered judgement or normal powers of reasoning’
Smith
Pre-menstrual tension is a recognised medical condition
Mohammed
Bad temper or anger issues cannot be considered in the objective test
Martin
Fear of violence from burglars could now be considered a qualifying trigger under the new law
Hill
D’s circumstances could include sexual abuse suffered as a child
Gregson
D’s circumstances could include
unemployment,
epilepsy
depression
Golds
Impairment must be ‘important or weighty’
Egan, Dowds
D’s substantial impairment cannot come from intoxication alone
Doughty, Zebedee
a. A baby crying, or
b. Annoyance from father suffering Alzheimers
would now not be allowed as the anger trigger is a very high threshold so the defence will only rarely succeed.
Dietschmann
Where D suffers a recognised medical condition but is also intoxicated when he kills, the jury ignore the intoxication and decide whether he was substantially impaired by his abnormality of mental functioning
Clinton
Court said infidelity could now be considered if combined with other ‘fear’ or ‘anger’ trigger issues
i.e discovering an affair is not enough on its own, but could be taken into account with other factors such as taunting or laughing targeted at D
Camplin
Age and sex are important considerations
Byrne
Abnormality of mental functioning is ‘A state of mind so different from that of ordinary human beings that the reasonable man would term it abnormal’
Baillie
If D acts out of a considered desire for revenge, he cannot use the partial defence of loss of control
Asmelash
Intoxication cannot be considered in the objective test
Ahluwalia
battered wives syndrome is a recognised medical condition
Ward
D feared serious violence would be applied to his brother
