INV MAN- Unlawful act manslaughter

• Involuntary Manslaughter


  The unlawful but unintentional killing of another person
• Today's workshop


  1. Know the different types of manslaughter

  2. Meaning of Unlawful act or constructive manslaughter

  3. Examine the different case law

  4. Focus on death by drug cases

  5. Apply knowledge in class activities
• Involuntary Manslaughter

  Intentionally doing an unlawful act or omitting to do a lawful act to another person, but with no intention to kill them or cause them grievous bodily harm(GBH), but they die from the act anyway
• Involuntary Manslaughter


  • D has a heated argument with V. In the heat of passion, D slaps V who collapses and dies. Here, although it is D's action (slap) that has caused V's death, it is not reasonably likely that a mere slap would kill another person, hence D has no intention to kill but intention to harm.
• Types of Involuntary Manslaughter

  • Unlawful act manslaughter
  • Gross negligence manslaughter
  • Subjectively reckless manslaughter
• Unlawful Act Manslaughter (Constructive Manslaughter)


  It arises where D intentionally commits an unlawful act which, in a reasonable person's view, exposes V to the risk of some harm and V dies as a result of that harm
• Unlawful Act Manslaughter


  • Larkin (1944): D saw his girlfriend with another man at a party. He held out a razor to threaten the man. The girlfriend who was drunk fell upon the razor which cut her throat and killed her.
• Elements of Unlawful Act Manslaughter


  • D's act being intentional
  • D's act being unlawful
  • D's act being objectively dangerous
  • D's act being the cause of V's death
• Intentional Act


  D must intentionally do an unlawful act, that is, they must have thought it through before doing the act. D's intention is not to kill V, and D need not foresee V's death, otherwise, it becomes murder and not involuntary manslaughter.
• Intentional Act


  • Lowe [1973]: D neglected to seek medical help for his ailing child. The child died as a result and D was charged with unlawful act manslaughter. Held: D was not guilty. Negligent omission is not enough to ground a conviction for unlawful act manslaughter. There must be a positive act which D has intentionally done, and which inadvertently caused V's death.
• Unlawfulness of the act


  D's action must also be unlawful or criminal in nature to ground unlawful act manslaughter. The Prosecution must prove both the actus reus and mens rea of a crime, and there must be no valid defence for D's act, before unlawful act manslaughter can be established.
• Unlawfulness of the act


  • Lamb (1967): D and his friend V were playing with a loaded gun and D pointed the gun at V. Both of them honestly believed that the gun could do no harm to V because there was no bullet opposite the barrel of the gun. D triggered the gun which killed V. Held (CA): D was not guilty. There was no intention to commit any unlawful act of assault since V was not put in apprehension of an immediate and unlawful violence.
• Dangerousness of the act


  The intentional act must not only be unlawful, it must also be dangerous. A dangerous act is 'an act which is likely to injure another person'. Dangerousness is assessed objectively, not subjectively (would a reasonable person have perceived that D's act carries a risk of some (not necessarily serious) harm?).
• Dangerousness of the act


  • Church (1966): D hit V who became unconscious. Thinking she was dead, he dumped her in a river where she drowned and died. Held (CA): D was guilty of gross negligence manslaughter. The court held that 'for such a verdict inexorably to follow, the unlawful act must be such as all sober and reasonable people would inevitably recognise must subject the other person to, at least, the risk of some harm resulting therefrom albeit not serious harm…'.
• Cause of Death


  D's act must be the cause of V's death before unlawful act manslaughter can be committed. The general rules of factual (but for test) causation and legal (substantial and operating) causation apply here. There must be no break in the chain of causation.
• Cause of Death: The Drug Cases


  • Cato (1976): D and V (drug addicts) prepared drugs and injected each other. V died as a result. Held: D was guilty of unlawful manslaughter for maliciously administering poison or controlled drug on V, causing them grievous bodily harm and the consequent death, contrary to s 23 of the OAPA 1861.