Voluntary Manslaughter - Diminished Responsibility

• DR - Definition


  Coroner’s & Justice Act 2009, s.52 (1), 3 requirements:

  1. D’s had abnormality of mental functioning caused by a recognised medical condition (s.52(1)(a))
  2. This has impaired D’s ability to understand the nature of his conduct; form a rational judgement; or exercise self-control (s.52(1)(b))
  3. This provides an explanation for D’s involvement in the killing
• DR - Abnormality of mind


  Byrne:

  -> ’a state of mind so different to that of an ordinary human beings that the reasonable man would term it abnormal’
• DR - must arise from a recognised psychiatric condition

  Includes:

  -> BWS (Ahluwalia)

  -> Sexual psychopathy (Byrne)

  -> Depression (Gittens)
• DR - substantially impaired the D’s ability to…

  Do one of 3 things:

  1. understand the nature of his conduct ( as illustrated by the Katie Rough killing)
  2. exercise self-control (illustrated by the sexual psychopathy in Byrne)
  3. make a rational judgement (illustrated in Sutcliffe)
• DR - link


  There must be a casual link between the impairment and the killing