Involuntary Manslaughter Cases

• Ds negligence must be gross. The jury must consider whether, having regard to the risk of death, Ds conduct was so bad in all circumstances as to amount to a criminal act or omission: Adomako
• The circumstances must be such that a reasonable person would have foreseen a serious and obvious risk of death: Misra
• Where D fails to reach the standard of care required of the reasonable person in the same circumstance, D breached his duty of care: Adomako
• Duty of care is owed by a doctor towards a patient: Adomako
• motorists owe a duty of care to other road users and pedestrian: Andrews v DPP
• It is irrelevant that’s Vs are parties to illegal act and that no duty of care was owed in civil law: Wacker
• D has a duty of care to anyone who he should reasonably think might be affected by his actions: Donoghue v Stevenson
• It is not necessary for D to realise that the act is unlawful or dangerous: Dpp v Newbury and Jones
• If D gives drugs to an adult V of sound mind and they take them and die, D is not guilty: Kennedy
• D was more than a minimal cause of death: Cato
• Where a reasonable person would be aware of Vs frailty and the risk of physical harm by shock to him, then the unlawful act will be dangerous: Watson
• Ds unlawful act need not be aimed at V or even a person, it could be aimed at property: Goodfellow
• The unlawful act must be dangerous. A reasonable person must foresee a risk of some harm to another person resulting from Ds unlawful act: Church
• An omission is insufficient: Lowe
• The unlawful act must be a crime rather than only a civil wrong: Lamb