IM: Unlawful Act Manslaughter (UAM)

• Involuntary Manslaughter = Individual Offences

  • Unlike voluntary manslaughter, with involuntary manslaughter the offender will not be charged with murder. Instead they are charged with:
  • Unlawful Act/ Constructive Manslaughter
  • Gross Negligence Manslaughter
• Unlawful Act/ Constructive Manslaughter:

  • The defendant committed an unlawful and dangerous act which death.
  • The defendant did not intend or foresee death.
• Gross Negligence Manslaughter:

  • The defendant had a responsibility and failed in carrying out that responsibility, causing death.
  • The defendant did not intend death to occur.
• Elements of Unlawful Act Manslaughter - Actus Reus:

  • Defendant carries out an Unlawful Act
  • Which is a Dangerous Act
  • And it Causes Death
• Elements of Unlawful Act Manslaughter - Mens Rea:

  • The mens rea for the original unlawful act is needed
  • No intention or foresight of death is required.
• Actus Reus - Unlawful Act:

  • The defendant must have committed some kind of unlawful act, which must be a crime.
  • R v Franklin 1883
  • R v Lowe 1973
• R v Franklin 1883:

  • D threw box off Brighton pier. It hit a swimmer on the head and killed them by drowning.
  • D not guilty of UAM because initial act was civil, not criminal.
  • Rule: Unlawful act must be crime. Civil is not enough.
• R v Lowe 1973:

  • D forgot to feed his baby, who then died.
  • D was not guilty of UAM because the unlawful act must be a positive act and not an omission.
  • Rule: The unlawful act cannot be an omission, it must be an act.
• Actus Reus - Unlawful Act:

  • The defendant must have committed some kind of unlawful act, which must be a crime.
  • R v Lamb 1963
  • R v Kennedy 2007
  • R v Meeking 2012
• R v Lamb 1963:

  • D and V were friends messing around with a gun. They thought it was a toy gun. D pulled the trigger and shot and killed V.
  • D was not guilty of UAM because the unlawful act of 'assault' was not complete - V had not feared violence as V thought it was a toy gun too.
  • Rule: All elements of the unlawful act must be satisfied.
• R v Kennedy 2007:

  • D prepared a syringe of heroin for V, but V injected himself. V died of an overdose.
  • D was not guilty of UAM because V self-injected.
  • Rule: it is not necessarily important which crime is used as he basis of the unlawful act, as long as it is clear and consistent.
• R v Meeking 2012:

  • During an argument, D pulled on the handbrake while V was driving at 60mph. This caused an accident which killed V.
  • D was guilty of UAM because she had committed an unlawful act (interfering with a motor vehicle), this was dangerous, and it caused V's death.
• Actus Reus - Dangerous Act:

  • The unlawful act that D committed must also be seen as dangerous. This means there was at least some risk of harm.
  • It does not need to be a risk of death.
  • DPP v Newbury & Jones 1976
• DPP v Newbury & Jones 1976:

  • The jury must decide if D's unlawful act was dangerous using an objective test.
  • Means it does not mater if the D did not personally think it was dangerous.
  • "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 there from albeit not serious harm".
• Actus Reus - Dangerous Act

  • DPP v Newbury & Jones 1976
  • R v Dawson 1985
  • R v Watson 1989
  • R v JF and NE 2015
  • AG's Ref (3 of 1994) 1995
  • R v Church 1967
  • R v Bristow 2013
  • R v JM and SM 2012
• Actus Reus - Causes Death:

  Causation Rules:

  • Factual Causation:
  • 'but for' test (but for D's actions, V would not be hurt)
  • R v White
  • Legal Causation
  • D's actions are more than 'de minimus'
  • R v Kimsey
  • D's actions are the operating and substantial cause' and no need to be the 'sole cause'
  • R v Smith
  • New Intervening Acts (Novus Actus Interveniens)
  • if these break the chain of causation. D is not guilty
  • includes foreseeable acts of victim (R v Roberts) but not daft and unforeseeable acts of victim (R v Williams and Davis)
• Actus Reus - Causes Death:

  • R v Dalby 1982:
  • R v Kennedy 2007:
  • R v Cato 1976

  Rule: There is no liability for UAM in cases where D prepares or supplied drugs but V injects themselves, as this breaks the chain of causation.
• Actus Reus - Causes Death

  • R v Dalby 1982
  • D supplied his friend with drugs.
  • His friend prepared his own syringe and injected himself
  • He died of an overdose
  • HELD: D not guilty of manslaughter as the victim injected himself
• Actus Reus - Causes Death

  • R v Kennedy 2007:
  • D supplied drugs and prepared the syringe but the victim injected themselves.
  • The victim then died of an overdose
  • HELD: D not guilty as the victim was a "full informed and responsible adult" who decided to inject themselves
• Actus Reus - Causes Death

  • R v Cato 1976:
  • D brought heroin for him and his friends.
  • They all prepared their own but injected each other
  • D injected V, who then died of an overdose.
  • HELD: D was guilty of manslaughter as his actions caused the death.
• Mens Rea - D must have the men rea for whichever unlawful act caused the death:

  • DPP v Newbury & Jones 1976
  • R v Lamb 1967
• Mens Rea:

  • DPP v Newbury & Jones 1976:
  • There is no need to prove D foresaw any harm. They only need to have fulfilled the mens rea of he original unlawful act.
• Mens Rea:

  • R v Lamb 1967:
  • If D does not have the mens rea of the original unlawful act, they cannot be guilty of UAM.
  • Here D had not known the gun was real, so could not have the mens rea for assault, and therefore could not be guilty of UAM.
• Mens Rea:

  • The rule of transferred malice applied here - means the unlawful act does not need to be aimed at the victim. If it is aim at another person, the mens rea will transfer from them to the victim, and D will still be guilty.
  • R v Mitchell 1983
• Mens Rea:

  • R v Mitchell 1983:
  • D pushed an elderly man who had confronted him for jumping a queue in a Post Office. The elderly man fell into an elderly woman, who fell and broke her leg, then later died.
  • D was guilty of UAM. His malice towards the man was transferred to the woman.