Unlawful Act Manslaughter

Description

Key cases for the offence of unlawful act manslaughter
Yasmine King
Flashcards by Yasmine King, updated more than 1 year ago
Yasmine King
Created by Yasmine King almost 7 years ago
471
1

Resource summary

Question Answer
R v Stone and Dobinson (case facts) Stone's sister came to live with the defendants at their invitation. D's took her in and agreed to look after her. She was found dead in her bed in appalling conditions
R v Stone and Dobinson (legal principle) An omission will be insufficient for UAM
R v Franklin (case facts) The defendant threw a large box in to the sea off Brighton pier. The box hit and killed a swimmer
R v Franklin (legal principle) It must be a criminal offence; civil wrong is not enough
R v Lamb (case facts) D and V were messing around with a revolver. They knew it was loaded with two bullets but they both taught it would not fire. D pointed the gun at V and fired. D was charged with UAM based on assault but the court decided there was no assault in this case.
R v Lamb (legal principle) D must have all the elements of the unlawful act. The AR and the MR
R v Pagett + R v White Factual causation
R v Smith + R v Jordan Legal causation
R v Blaue Thin skull rule
R v Dear (case facts) D's daughter accused a man of sexual abuse. The defendant slashed him with a knife. V received medical treatment but he re-opened his wounds in a suicide attempt and died. Two days after the attack
R v Dear (legal principle) Self neglect by v does not break the chain of causation nor does v aggravating their own injuries
Cato (case facts) D injected v. V only prepared the syringe
Cato (legal principle) The unlawful act is administering a noxious substance
Kennedy (No2) 2007 (case facts) D filled the syringe and passed it to V. V injected himself.
Kennedy (No2) 2007 (legal principle) V is responsible for his own conduct
Church (case facts) V mocked D's ability to satisfy her sexually and slapped him. D knocked her unconscious tried to wake her but believing she was dead threw her in a river. She drowned.
Church (legal principle) Church Test; The sober and reasonable person would recognise the risk of some physical harm
Watson (case facts) D smashed a window and broke into the house of an 87 year old man. He shouted abuse at him and ran off. When the police arrived the man suffered a heart attack and died
Watson (legal principle) Frailty is obvious A reasonable by stander could have recognised that v is likely to suffer 'some' (physical) harm
R v JM and SM (case facts) V, 40 and apparently fit, worked as a nightclub doorman. Unknown to anybody he had a renal aneurysm. J and S had been thrown out of a night club they began to fight with. Two punches were thrown shortly after v's aneurysm ruptured and he died
D v JM and SM (legal principle) Frailty is not obvious No need for the sober and reasonable person to foresee the specific harm from which v died, only that v would suffer physical harm of some sort
Goodfellow (case facts) D had been harassed by two men and wished to move from his council accommodation. In order to get re-housed he set fire to his house making it look like a petrol bomb. His wife, son and son's girlfriend died in the fire
Goodfellow (legal principle) The unlawful act can be to property as long as the sober, reasonable person would realise it carried the risk of some physical harm to a person
R v Farnon and Ellis (case facts) D, 14, but with a mental age of a 6 year old, set fire to a derelict building whilst someone was inside. D didn't know anyone was inside
R v Farnon and Ellis (legal principle) It doesn't matter what D's perception was
Newbury and Jones (case facts) Two 15 year old boys threw a paving slab off a railway bridge as a train approached. The stone went through a glass window on the cab and killed the guard
Newbury and Jones (legal principle) It is not necessary to prove that D foresaw anything from his act. D only needs the MR of the unlawful act
Mitchell (case facts) D tried to jump the queue at the post office. An elderly man took issue. He hit the old man and pushed him. He fell back on others in the queue they fell on an old lady who later died
Mitchell (legal principle) The unlawful act does not have to be aimed at the victim (transferred malice)
Show full summary Hide full summary

Similar

Functionalist Theory of Crime
A M
Realist Theories
A M
Carbohydrates
Julia Romanów
Control, Punishment & Victims
A M
AQA A2 Biology Unit 4: Populations
Charlotte Lloyd
AQA Physics: A2 Unit 4
Michael Priest
Coloured Compounds (AQA A2 Chemistry)
Filip Lastovka
Ethnicity, Crime & Justice
A M
Gender, Crime & Justice
A M
The Weimar Republic, 1919-1929
shann.w
Globalisation Case Studies
annie