Unlawful act manslaughter

• What is unlawful act manslaughter?

  Unlawful Act Manslaughter is a common law offence and is defined through case law.
• what is the men’s Rea for it?


  No mens Rea for murder, mens Rea for unlawful act must be present. D need not foresee death, or realise act is unlawful or dangerous
• What r the steps for unlawful act manslaughter?

  1. HAS D COMMITTED AN UNLAWFUL ACT?
  2. HAS D GOT THE MENS REA FOR THE UNLAWFUL ACT?
  3. DID THE UNLAWFUL ACT CAUSE THE DEATH? CAUSATION?
  4. WAS THE UNLAWFUL ACT DANGEROUS?
• HAS D COMMITTED AN UNLAWFUL ACT??

  occurs when D does not intend to kill /cause GBH but has committed an unlawful act which led to the death (V). it can form an unlawful act if it involves a dangerous act likely to cause injury.

  R V Stone and Dobinson and R v Lowe- An omission does not constitute an unlawful act for the purposes of unlawful act manslaughter. R V Franklin said that UAM must be a criminal act not a civil one. R V Lamb says that the actus reus and the mens rea must both be complete.
• Which case states that the unlawful act cannot be an omission

  R v Lowe
• DID THE UNLAWFUL ACT CAUSE THE DEATH?

  Would the V’s death still have happened BUT FOR D’s conduct? R V Pagett/White

  Was D’s conduct the operative and substantial cause of V’s death? R V Smith, i.e. significant R V Cheshire.

  D passes/fails the tests BECAUSE...

  ->Does the thin skull rule apply? R V Dear/Blaue

  ->Was there an intervening act and if so does it break the chain of causation? Jordan, R V Roberts/Williams, R V Pagett

  -> R V Cato -DIDN’T BREAK CHAIN as D administered drugs to V.

  -> R V Kennedy -DID BREAK CHAIN as V administered drug to himself.
• HAS D GOT THE MENS REA FOR THE UNLAWFUL ACT?

  The defendant does not have to foresee the risk of causing the death or even some harm to V as long as he has the mens rea for the unlawful act, as in Newbury and Jones.

  ->Mitchell- If D meant to cause an unlawful act to someone else.

  The mens rea for the unlawful act is ... D has/doesn’t have this mens rea BECAUSE... Mohan/Cunningham.
• R v Dhaliwal [2006] EWCA Crim 1139 -the infliction of psychological (not psychiatric) harm is not enough for unlawful act manslaughter
• examples with cases of unlawful acts??

  • arson - R v goodfellow 1986
  • criminal damage - DPP v Newbury and jones 1976
  • burglary - R v watson 1989