Unlawful Act Manslaughter Flashcards
1
Q
Definition
A
A form of involuntary manslaughter committed when the D has caused the death of a person by an unlawful or dangerous act, but did not have the mens rea (Mitchell)
2
Q
Criminal offence
A
The unlawful act must be a criminal offence (Lamb)
An omission will not suffice
3
Q
Objectively dangerous act
A
As in the case of Church, an act is deemed dangerous if a sober and reasonable person would foresee some harm to the victim
4
Q
Factual causation
A
‘but for’ test
5
Q
Legal causation
A
The D must be the operating and substantial cause meaning there are no intervening acts that break the chain of causation
6
Q
Mens rea
A
The D must have the mens rea to do the original act (Lebrun)
