Gross negligence manslaughter

What is the first element of GNM?

Duty of care

Where do the duty to act/duty of care arise in criminal law?

Omissions categories

Which (civil) case defines duty of care

Donoghue v Stevenson

R v Willoughby

Even if it is a criminal enterprise a duty will still be owed

Owner owed a duty to the person he had hired to burn his pub down.

Facts of Adomako

Anaesthetist failed to notice that the tube had become disconnected from the patient

GNM

Breach of duty

The duty is breached when the defendant falls below the standard expected of the reasonable man

Which causes death

Causation

i. Factual causation - But for test

ii. Legal causation - operative and substantial cause

Gross negligence

This must go beyond a matter of mere compensation and be bad enough to justify a criminal conviction

The jury decides if the negligence is gross

Bateman

Gross negligence is when conduct is so negligent that it goes beyond a matter of mere compensation

A risk of death

There must be a risk of death (or at least serious injury where death was highly likely to follow)

The higher the risk of death the more the defendant should have done to guard against it

Mirsa and Srivastava

Confirms that there must be a risk of death from the defendant's act or omission