unlawful act manslaughter Flashcards
(25 cards)
What is unlawful act manslaughter?
Unlawful act manslaughter is a type of involuntary manslaughter, also known as constructive manslaughter.
What does UAM mean?
It is where an unlawful killing has taken place, and the defendant lacks the mens rea for murder.
How many elements must the prosecution prove of UAM for the AR?
The prosecution must prove 4 elements of unlawful act manslaughter:
What does it mean by an unlawful act?
The act must be a positive act and a criminal offence and not a civil wrong.
Which case law held that a civil wrong is not enough for constructive manslaughter.
R v Franklin.
What other acts are considered as unlawful? Back with case law.
Unlawful acts can include assault as in R v Mitchel, supplying and administering substances such as in R v Cato.
What does it mean by dangerous?
The unlawful act should be objectively dangerous.
Which case confirmed the dangerous rule?
Newsbury and Jones where the defendants were being reckless for throwing stones onto a passing train.
What did R v Church rule?
It states that a ‘reasonable and sober man must see that some risk of harm could be caused’ for it to be seen as dangerous.
What case law shows that the sober man did not see a defect as there was no risk of physical harm to the victim?
R v Dawson.
Which case law did a sober see the vulnerability?
R v Watson.
What does it mean by a positive act?
The act must be a positive act and not an omission.
What did R v Lowe show?
It showed that an omission will not suffice.
What did R v Goodfellow rule?
The positive acr need not be aimed at the victim.
What happened in R v Goodfellow?
The unlawful act was directed against property as the defendant set fire to his house.
What does it mean by to cause death?
In order for the defendant to be liable, they must have caused death.
How is death proven?
To establish this, the ‘but-for test’ (R v Pagett) for factual causation and the ‘more than minimal’ test (R v Kimsey) for legal causation is used.
What is required for the chain of causation?
The chain of causation is required to be intact so acts of a third party, the victim’s own act or an unpredictable event must not intervene.
What is the thin skull rule?
The thin skull rule is where the defendant must take the victim as found as in R v Blaue.
What happens if the victim self-injects after being supplied with drugs?
R v Kennedy and R v Dalby shows that if you supply drugs and the victim self-injects, it breaks the chain of causation, and the defendant is not liable.
What did the case of R v Cato show?
However, the case of R v Cato held where you supply and administer a drug substance and the person dies, you are guilty of manslaughter.
What is the MR for UAM?
In order to be held liable, the defendant must have the mens rea required for the unlawful and dangerous act.
What did R v Lamb rule?
They do not require any mens rea that shows they intended or foresaw a risk of death.
What case shows that the defendant does not need to intend actual death as he satisfied the mens rea to commit the unlawful act?
R v Goodfellow.
