Intervening Acts

• Intervening acts - Breaking the Chain of Causation

  This can be broken by:

  
  

  1. An act of a third party.
  2. The victim's own act.
  3. A natural, but predictable event.
• Intervening acts - Medical Treatment

  Jordan = D stabbed V, hospital gave wrong injection and died, D not guilty.

  Smith = soldiers fighting, V stabbed, bad medical treatment didn't break chain as wound was still substantial cause of death.

  Cheshire = V shot and died in rare complication in medical procedure - rare medical complications can break chain but only when original injury is not longer having any real effect.
• Intervening acts - Victim's own act

  Roberts = V jumped from car, D alleged sexual advances - V's actions reasonably foreseeable so did not break chain.

  Williams = V jumped from car, D alleged try to steal wallet - V's actions 'daft' and broke chain.