Diminished Responsibility

• Diminshed responsibility acts (and amendments)

  Homicide Act 1957, Coroners and Justice Act 2009
• 'a state of mind so different from that of the ordinary human beings that a reasonable man would term it abnormal'

  Byrne
• Examples of recognised medical conditions (prior to 2009) include: depression

  Gittens
• Examples of recognised medical conditions (prior to 2009) include: battered spouse syndrome

  Ahluwalia
• Examples of recognised medical conditions (prior to 2009) include: epilepsy

  Campbell
• Examples of recognised medical conditions (after 2009) include: Autism

  Conroy
• Examples of recognised medical conditions (after 2009) include: paranoid personality disorder

  Squelch
• The substantial impairment need not be total but more than minimal and must hinder the D's ability to understand one of the three conditions

  Lloyd
• Intoxication alone cannot be used as a defence

  Dowds
• If D was drunk and has a pre-existing abnormality, the defence may be available

  Dietschmann