Crime OCR

• Murder


  The unlawful killing of a human being under the Queen's peace with malice aforethought, express or implied
• Causation


  • D must be the factual and legal cause of V's death
  • But for...
• Mens rea for murder


  Malice aforethought, which means intention (direct or oblique)
• Malice aforethought can be express (intend to kill) or implied (intend GBH)
• Death


  • Must be an unlawful killing (can be a positive act or an omission)
  • Death means V has no brain activity
• 'Human being' does not include a foetus
• Killing in war is not murder
• Loss of Control


  A partial defence which can reduce murder to voluntary manslaughter and allows D to avoid the mandatory life sentence
• Loss of Control


  Comes from s54-55 Coroners and Justice Act 2009
• Qualifying Trigger (QT) - Fear of serious violence


  • s.55 (3)
  • Subjective test
  • D's fear must be genuine but does not need to be reasonable
  • D's fear must be of violence towards themselves or an identified person
• Qualifying Trigger (QT) - Anger trigger


  • s.55 (4)
  • Objective test
  • Things said or done "of an extremely grave nature giving D a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged"
  • High threshold for what will be accepted
• s.55 (5) - both QT's can be combined to make one
• s55(6)(a): D cannot claim fear of violence if D incited the situation and used it as an excuse to be violent
• s55(6)(b): D cannot claim things said or done if they incited the situation and used it as an excuse to be violent
• s55(6)(c): sexual infidelity will never be a QT on its own (however, in Clinton it was confirmed to be allowed if combined with other trigger issues)
• Loss of self-control


  • s54(2)
  • Does not need to be sudden
  • A delay is allowed unless D calmed down and plans revenge (in which case the defence fails due to s54(4))
• s54(1)(c)


  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 (Asmelash)
• Diminished Responsibility


  A partial defence which can reduce murder to voluntary manslaughter and allows D to avoid the mandatory life sentence
• Comes from


  s2(1) Homicide Act 1957 as amended by s52 Coroners and Justice Act 2009
• AMF


  A state of mind so different from that of an ordinary man that the reasonable person would find it abnormal (Byrne)
• s52(1)(a)


  • Although there are no examples, RMC could include psychological and physical conditions (which affect mental function), e.g. chronic depression, OCD, PTSD, diabetes, brain damage. A Dr would give medical evidence.
• s52(1)(b)


  • D's ability to (a) understand the nature of his conduct, (b) form a rational judgment, or (c) exercise self-control must be substantially impaired. SI means the impairment must be "important or weighty" (Golds).
• s52(1)(c)


  • D's AMF must cause them to kill V.
• But for.....(D's abnormality)


  They would not have killed V (White)
• D's .... (AMF)


  Contributed to them killing V in a more than minimal way (Cheshire)
• Intoxication is not enough for DR to succeed (Di Duca)
• If D is intoxicated and also suffers an AMF, the intoxication is ignored (Dietschmann)
• If D suffers ADS, this is a RMC and the defence should be considered (Wood)
• Unlawful act


  An act which is dangerous and causes death
• Unlawful act

  • It is a common law offence
  • It has a maximum life sentence
  • It must be a positive act, not an omission
• Unlawful act


  It must be a crime, even a property crime
• Dangerous


  An objective test from Church
• D's unlawful act


  Must cause V's death
• But for the unlawful act


  V would not have died
• The unlawful act


  Contributed to V's death in a more than minimal way
• Discuss any NAI/Thin skull rule issues here
• D only needs the MR for the initial, unlawful act
• D does not need to intend or risk death as long as the MR for the initial crime is satisfied
• Gross negligence manslaughter means D has a duty of care and breaches it in a very

  negligent way, causing V’s death. It is from common law and has a maximum life

  sentence. The leading case is Admoako.
• There is always a duty of care in relation to parents (Gibbins & Proctor), carers (Stone

  & Dobinson), police (Dytham), employment (Pittwood) and creating a dangerous

  situation (Miller) but there could be other reasons for a duty of care being owed using

  the Caparo v Dickman rules.