Loss of Control

• Loss of Control is defined under s54 and s55 of Criminal Justice Act 2009.
• s54(1) Criminal Justice Act 2009 gives the elements:

  1. The killing resulted from D's loss of self-control
  2. The loss of self-control had a qualifying trigger
  3. A person of D's sex and age, with a normal degree of tolerance and self-restraint and in the circumstances of D might have reacted in the same or similar way.
• The loss of control must be triggered by fear of serious violence of things said or done.
• s54(2) It does not matter whether or not the loss of control was sudden.
• s54(4) Excludes the defence when it is motivated by a considered desire for revenge.
• s55(3) Fear of serious violence.
• s55(4) Things said or done or both which caused D to have a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged.
• s55(6)c The face that thing done or said constituted sexual infidelity is to be disregarded.

  Clinton.
• It doesn't matter is the loss of control was sudden or not. This should allow the "slow burn" defence to be used.

  Ahluwalia.
• s55 defines the "qualifying trigger"
• There are two triggers:

  1. Fear of serious violence
  2. Things said or done or both which caused D to have a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged.
• Fear of serious violence means that the D fear need to be genuine and if the violence was "serious".
• Things said or done must cause the D to have a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged.

  Bowyer.
• Hatter: Constituted circumstances of an extremely grave character.
• A person of D's sex and age with a normal degree of tolerance and self-restraint and in the circumstances of D might have reacted in the same or in a similar way to the D.
• The standard of self-control doesn't change but the situation does.
• Gregson: Take characteristics into account.