Duress of Circumstance

Question 1

Introduce duress of circumstance.

Answer 1

Not available to offences of:
* R v Howe: Murder
* R v Gotts: Attempted Murder
* Treason

• Similar to Duress; but instead of being forced to commit a crime by another person, occurs when D’s forced by situation they find themselves in, to commit a crime.
• R v Willer: Creation of Defence
• R v Conway: available if on objective standpoint, D was acting to avoid threat of death/serious injury
• R v Pommell: Ruled defence is governed by same principles as Duress by Threats- go through same stages.
• R v Cairns: Defence available where D reasonably perceived a threat of serious injury/death, even though there was no actual threat.
• R v Abdul-Hussain: sufficient for D to show they acted as they did because they reasonably perceived a threat of serious physical injury/death. Not required to prove the threat was an actual real threat.

Question 2

Explain the second test for the defence of duress (of circumstance).

Answer 2

Test 2: Against Who Must The Threat Be Made?
* Threat must be directed against D, their immediate family, or someone else to them.

Question 3

Explain the third test for the defence of duress (of circumstance).

Answer 3

Test 3: The Objective Test: Did D Act Reasonably?
* R v Graham: Jury must consider a two-stage test:
1) Was D compelled to act as they did because they had a good cause to fear serious injury/death?
2) If first test is satisfied, would a sober person of reasonable firmness, sharing the same characteristics as the accused, have responded in the same way.
* R v Bowen: States the characteristics that can be taken into account: Age, Pregnancy, Serious Physical Disability, Recognised Medical Condition, Gender

Question 4

Explain the fourth test for the defence of duress (of circumstance).

Answer 4

Test 4: Did The Threats Relate Directly To The Crime Committed By D?
* R v Cole: D can only use defence if threats are made to make them commit a specific offence.

Question 5

Explain the fifth test for the defence of duress (of circumstance).

Answer 5

Test 5: Was There Any Evasive Action D Could’ve Taken?
* R v Gill: D must be in a situation where they felt that they had no safe avenue of escape.
If police protection’s possible then D can’t rely on Duress.
* R v Hudson + Taylor: if threat isn’t likely to be carried out almost immediately, there may be little room for doubt that D could’ve taken evasive action, either by going to the police or in some other way, to avoid committing the crime.

Question 6

Explain the sixth test for the defence of duress (of circumstance).

Answer 6

• D can’t use defence if they’ve voluntarily laid themselves open to the threats.
• R v Sharpe: Duress not available if D voluntarily joins a criminal gang, which he knows is violent.