158 - Homicide defined
Homicide is the killing of a human being by another, directly or indirectly, by any means whatsoever.
define unlawful act
means a breach of any act, regulation, rule or bylaw.
death from lawful games or contests
If a constant causes the death of another by an act that is likely to cause serious injury, they will be guilty of manslaughter.
To establish proof of death, in relation to homicide, you must prove three key elements:
- death occurred.
- Deceased is identified as the person who has been killed.
- the killing is culpable.
What are the critical factors to consider for a charge of murder?
whether the offender intended to:
- kill the person or,
- cause bodily injury that the offender knew was likely to cause death.
Charges against organisations
manslaughter - an organisation can be charged as party to an offence.
Murder - an organisation cannot be convicted as either a principal offender or party to the offence. This is because the offence carries a mandatory life sentence.
What are 5 examples of culpable homicide?
- committing arson
- giving a child an excessive amount of alcohol to drink.
- supplying heroin to a person who subsequently dies of overdose.
- conducting an illegal abortion where mother dies.
- throwing concrete from over bridge into oncoming vehicles.
Omission to perform legal duty
Culpable homicide includes any death caused by an omission. providing necessaries as an employer.
Define “wilfully” frightening
Wilfully frightening is regarded as intending to frighten or at least be reckless as to this.
Consent to death
No one has the right to consent to being killed. this means that, if someone is killed, the fact they gave their consent will not affect the criminal responsibility of anyone else involved with the killing.
Under section 160(s) of the crimes act 1961, culpable homicide consists of killing a person by:
an unlawful act
an omission without lawful excuse to perform or observe any legal duty
an unlawful act and an omission to perform a legal duty
using threats, fear of violence or deception to make the victim do an act that leads to their death
wilfully frightening a child under 16 years of age or a sick person.
Is a body required to prove the death of a person? Explain your answer with reference to case law R v Horry.
Death should be provable by such circumstances as render it morally certain and leave no ground for reasonable doubt – that the circumstantial evidence should be so cogent and compelling as to convince a jury that upon no rational hypothesis other than murder can the facts be accounted for.
159 Killing of a child
(1) A child becomes a human being within the meaning of this Act when it has completely proceeded in a living state from the body of its mother, whether it has breathed or not, whether it has an independent circulation or not, and whether the navel string is severed or not.
(2) The killing of such child is homicide if it dies in consequence of injuries received before, during, or after birth.
