Homicide

Question 1

Murder - mens rea

Answer 1

“Malice aforethought”, meaning:
(1) Intention to kill, or
(2) Intention to cause GBH

Question 2

Murder - definition

Answer 2

The unlawful killing of a human being, within the King’s Peace, with malice aforethought

Question 3

Loss of control defence - requirements (3):

Answer 3

AR + MR for murder is made out, but:

(1) D has suffered a loss of control
(2) The loss of control came from a qualifying trigger
(3) An ordinary person of D’s sex and age might have reacted the same in the circumstances

Question 4

“Anger” trigger for loss of control must be…

Answer 4

… (1) as a result of things done or said, which (2) resulted in D having a justified sense of being seriously wronged

Question 5

R v Clinton (2012)

Answer 5

Although sexual infidelity is not something “done or said” for the anger trigger in loss of control, it can be a relevant part of the context

Question 6

Loss of control defence is excluded where there is evidence of…

Answer 6

… a “considered desire for revenge”

Question 7

In the loss of control defence, how suddenly a person reacts to a provocation is important because…

Answer 7

… if they do not act suddenly, it will be harder to show they have “lost control” (although sometimes it may still be possible to do so)

Question 8

R v Doughty (1986)

Answer 8

D killed his baby son aged 19 days when he wouldn’t stop crying. Under old law he could have pled loss of control, but under current law he wouldn’t be able to as he has no “justifiable sense” of being “seriously wronged”

Question 9

R v Zebedee (2012)

Answer 9

D lost control when his father with Alzheimers repeatedly soiled himself and killed him. He could not use loss of control defence as he had no “justifiable sense” of being “seriously wronged”

Question 10

Loss of control defence is set out in the…

Answer 10

Coroners and Justice Act 2009 s54(1)

Question 11

R v Jewell (2014)

Answer 11

For loss of control, there must be evidence of a person having lost “normal powers of reasoning” going beyond simply bad mood, tiredness or irritation

Question 12

What cannot count as something “done or said” in the anger qualifying trigger?

Answer 12

Sexual infidelity (on its own - unless part of a wider context)

Question 13

“Fear” trigger in loss of control means…

Answer 13

… A genuine fear of serious violence, to oneself or another person

Question 14

The “fear” trigger cannot be used when D has…

Answer 14

…incited the violence initially, with the aim of gaining a pretext for violence

Question 15

Diminished responsibility - requirements (4):

Answer 15

AR + MR for murder is made out, but:

(1) D has an abnormality of mental functioning
(2) This arises from a medically recognised condition
(3) It substantially impairs D’s ability to (a) understand the nature of their conduct, (b) form a rational judgment or (c) exercise self-control
(4) It explains D’s actions in killing V

Question 16

In diminished responsibility, the burden…

Answer 16

…of proof is on the defence, not the prosecution (but the standard of proof is only on the balance of probabilities)

Question 17

R v Byrne (1960)

Answer 17

In diminished responsibility, an “abnormality of mental functioning” is when a person’s mental functioning is so different from that of ordinary human beings that the reasonable person would term it abnormal

Question 18

R v Dietschmann (2013)

Answer 18

In diminished responsibility, if a person has a pre-existing abnormality but this then gets worse from drinking, the court must discount the effect of the alcohol and ask whether they would have had enough of an abnormality without it

Question 19

R v Wood (2008)

Answer 19

For diminished responsibility, Alcohol Dependency Syndrome which leads to a person drinking uncontrollably can be an abnormality of mind

Question 20

In diminished responsibility a person’s rational faculties must be impaired, but by how much?

Answer 20

“Substantially” - how impaired counts as “substantially” is a judgment call for the jury to make (R v Golds (2016))

Question 21

The two types of involuntary manslaughter are…

Answer 21

(1) Unlawful act manslaughter (2) Gross negligence manslaughter

Question 22

Unlawful act manslaughter - requirements (4)

Answer 22

(1) D commits a crime
(2) D has the mens rea for this crime
(3) D’s act is dangerous
(4) D’s act causes someone to die

Question 23

The requirement for D’s act to be “dangerous” in unlawful act manslaughter means…

Answer 23

…A reasonable person would foresee harm resulting from the act (even if not the specific type of harm that did result)

Question 24

For unlawful act manslaughter, committing a civil wrong…

Answer 24

…is not enough for the crime to be established

Question 25

Gross negligence manslaughter - requirements (5)

Answer 25

(1) D owes V a duty of care
(2) D breaches that duty
(3) The breach creates a serious and obvious risk of death
(4) The breach causes death
(5) The whole act is negligent enough to amount to gross negligence

Question 26

Case that sets out the requirements for gross negligence manslaughter

Answer 26

R v Adomako (1994)