CAUSATION

• What is factual causation?

  Whether D’s conduct is required for the offence to occur
• What test is used to find factual causation?

  ’but for’ test
• What two cases highlight the principles of factual causation?

  R v White and R v Pagett
• What is legal causation?

  Deciding whether it is fair to blame D legally and whether it was the most significant cause of death
• What is the de minimis principle? What case exemplifies this?

  When something is too small to be significant.

  R v Kimsey
• What is the thin skull rule? What case exemplifies this?

  The defendant must take the victim as they find them, even if they have a pre-existing condition.

  R v Blaue
• What is the link between factual and legal causation called?

  The chain of causation
• What can break the chain of causation?

  An act of a third party

  The victim’s own act

  A natural but predictable event
• What cases exemplify an act of a third party through medical treatment?

  R v Smith

  R v Cheshire