duress by threats

Question 1

the test

Answer 1

Graham test -
1 - death or serious injury (50/50 split)
2 - reasonable man (90% obj)

Question 2

Graham

Answer 2

husband, wife and lover king. King said he’d leave D if he didn’t kill his wife, so he strangled her.
duress failed - threat was insufficiently grave, intox irrelevant, general violence not sufficient

Question 3

Valderrama - Vega

Answer 3

Colombia cocaine import, threats made to his family, threat to expose his homosexuality and he was under financial pressure.
Duress succeeded - one threat was D/SI and the other 2 were cumulative duress

Question 4

Ortiz

Answer 4

smuggle cocaine or his wife and child would ‘disappear’.

duress succeeded - d was responsible for wife and child

Question 5

Wright

Answer 5

smuggle drugs or they’d kill her boyfriend
TJ - not close enough
COA - boyfriend is sufficiently close

Question 6

Cole

Answer 6

loan sharks threatened child and girlfriend so he committed 2 robberies of a bank
duress failed as there was no nexus

Question 7

Gill

Answer 7

threatened to steal a lorry, carried out some time later.

duress failed - not immediate as avasive action was possible

Question 8

Hudson and Taylor

Answer 8

gave false evidence due to gang following over them.

duress succeeded as it was continuing and hanging over the defendants

Question 9

Abdul - Hussain

Answer 9

hijacked a plane to escape Iraq.

duress succeeded as the threat was imminent to D

Question 10

Fitzpatrick

Answer 10

IRA

duress failed - as the defendant joined the violent gang so knew what he was getting involved with

Question 11

Sharp

Answer 11

joined arm robbers, where a man died.

duress failed - sub test as he knew they would use violence

Question 12

Shepherd

Answer 12

joined non - violent shoplifters and they used violence when he tried leaving.
duress succeeded - he didn’t foresee violence

Question 13

Ali , Flatt and Heath

Answer 13

drug dealers and users.

duress failed - as they voluntarily got involved with drugs

Question 14

Hasan

Answer 14

d told a dealer about money in a safe. dealer threatened his family to rob it.
duress failed - HOL - held that duress would fail, set the new obj test as ‘should the defendant have seen violence’

Question 15

Martin

Answer 15

psycho who committed robbery

duress succeeded - this was wrongful acquital as they presumed part 1 of Hasan as just sub

Question 16

Bowen - part 2

Answer 16

low IQ committed fraud in over 40 stores due to petrol bomb threats against D and his family
COA - duress failed - the IQ is irrelevant as mental impairment could not be considered. Held only
age
sex
pregnancy
physical and mental disabilities can be taken into account