USM

• Introduction

  What is it?

  Life imprisonment. -someone has died due to an unlawful commited by d -involuntaru manslaughter is when kill someone but no mens rea for murder. -life imprisoment. -judge disecretion. -known as constructive manslaughter because liability for death built up
• Unlawful act


  - franklin say criminal act not civil tort as confirmed in lamb

  - hill v bacter

  - R v lowe ommision not sufficent prosecuter give jury option for both manslaughter types-jury decide -any criminal offence can form unlawful act
• Dangerous on objective test

  - R v church - only some harm which sober reasonable person must deem foreseeable. -average person would recognise that it could cause some form of physical harm to another person -

  - sober reasonable person

  -mitchell-unlawful act no need aim at victim

  - Larkin- confirm michell

  - risk but no specific r vJM and SM

  - R v Dawes shock

  - R v Watson - emotional-if aware of fragil

  - R v burstow Dunn and delay burglary
• Acts against property 


  -no need aimed at person can be aimed at property as long as sober reasonable person would inevitably recognise must rubhect ahother person to at least some harm”

  -r v good fellow
• Original act cause death

  -work through legal and factual causation

  -is there a break in chain of causation

  -Some defendants had been found guilty of UAM through the unlawful act of administering a noxious

  substance to the victim, contrary to s 23 Offences Against the Person Act 1861 as shown in the case of R v Cato [1976].

  -The issue has been however when the defendant .

  -This issue in relation to UAM seems to have now been settled in the case of R v Kennedy [2007]
• The objective test


  • Having an objective test poses the question, why should a defendant be guilty of manslaughter when he or she did not realise the risk of harm occurring to the victim
• It seems inconsistent that this offence should require a different form of mens Rea from all offences requiring recklessness
• Criminal act manslaughter


  The defendant would only be convicted using a subjective test: he must intend to cause injury or be aware the act involved a serious risk of causing some injury