Gross negligence manslaughter

Question 1

what is GNMS

Answer 1

a type of involuntary manslaughter which is an unlawful killing where the defendant does not have the mens rea for murder malice aforethought

Question 2

how many elements must be satisfied

Answer 2

5 Adomako

Question 3

what is the 1st element

Answer 3

firstly the defendant must have owed a duty of care the victim Singh This is based on the law of tort and duty of care was first defined in Donoghue v Stevenson. In Evans a duty of care was said to apply wherever D’s conduct carries a foreseeable risk to those around them

Question 4

what is the 2nd element?

Answer 4

secondly the defendant must have breached the duty of care owed to the victim by falling below the reasonable person standard of care test set out in Blyth v Birmingham Waterworks

Question 5

what is the 3rd element

Answer 5

the breach of duty must be the cause of death and so the rules on causation must be satisfied

Question 6

what is the 4th element

Answer 6

there must be have been a serious and obvious risk of death Misra and Srivastava

Question 7

what is the 5th element

Answer 7

there must be a gross negligence where the negligence was such as to make the defendant criminally liable in the eyes of the jury. Gross negligence was defined in Bateman and approved in Adomako as meaning conduct so bad in all the circumstances as showing such disregard for life and safety of others as to amount to a crime