Murder

• Defined as 'the unlawful killing of a reasonable person in being under the King's Peace with malice aforethought, express or implied'.
• Common law offence?

  Yes
• Actus Reus

  The actus reus of murder is the unlawful killing of a reasonable person in being under the King's Peace. The victim must have been killed by an act or omission (Gibbins and Proctor)
• Actus Reus

  The test of death is where the brain stem has died (Malcherek).
• Actus Reus

  A reasonable person in being is not a foetus (A-G Ref No.3).
• Actus Reus

  King's Peace is not in a time of war.
• Actus Reus

  Murder is a result crime so it must be proved that the defendant's conduct was the factual cause of death - it would not have happened 'but for' the defendant's actions (Paggett).
• Actus Reus

  Legal causation must also be proved, which is that it must be more than the minimal but need not be the substantial cause of the consequence (Kimsey).
• Actus Reus

  There must be no intervening acts which break the chain (Jordan).
• Mens Rea

  The mens rea of murder is malice aforethought express (intention to kill) or implied (intention to cause GBH) (Vickers).
• Express

  Intention to kill
• Implied

  Intention to cause GBH
• Mens Rea

  This can be direct intention (Mohan) or oblique (Woollin).