General Principles of Crime

Hill v Baxter

A car crash would not be voluntary if D lost control because of an attack by a swarm of bees.

State of Affairs

Illustrated by the case of Larsonneur

Special relationship duty

Gibbons and Proctor failed to feed their daughter who died of starvation.

Duty undertaken voluntarily

Stone and Dobinson ignored their sick house guest leaving her to die of malnutrition.

Factual Causation

'But for' the defendant's conduct V would not have been harmed.

White

But for D poisoning his mum's drink she would have died anyway.

Blaue

Sets the Thin Skull Rule which means you take your victim as you find them.

Intervening Act

An act, independent of an original act and not readily foreseeable, that breaks the chain of causation and sets a new chain of events in motion that causes harm.

Roberts

Victim's attempt to escape harm by jumping from a moving car was reasonably foreseeable and did not break the chain of causation.

Mohan

D tried to run over a police officer. Held D had a direct intent to harm the police officer because it was his aim or purpose to do so.

R v G

Boys set fire to a bin, which later spread to a supermarket. Supreme court confirmed recklessness is subjective

Negligence

objective test where a person fails to meet the standards of a reasonable person as in (Adomako) where the anaesthetist failed to notice a disconnected breathing tube

Transferred Malice

Mens Rea of the crime directed at one person is transferred to the unintended victim of the crime.

Latimer

During a pub fight D removed his belt and intended to strike X but instead hit V. The Mens Rea was able to move from the expected victim to the unexpected one using Transferred Malice.

Strict Liability

Group of offences where there is no need to prove Mens Rea for some or all of the Actus Reus elements.

Absolute Liability

Rare group of offences where there is no need to prove any Mens Rea for an offence, not even knowledge the act is taking place (larsonneur)

Cundy v Le Cocq

D was charged with selling alcohol to a drunk person. didnt matter that D didn't know they were drunk

B v DPP

D (aged 15) was charged with unknowingly inciting a child under 14 to commit gross indecency. conviction was quashed though and said MR was needed for such a serious offence

Omissions

Failure to act where there is a legal duty to so.

Contractual duty

(Pittwood) ignored his job and left a railway crossing open causing death.

Actus Reus

Physical element of a crime.

Voluntary Act

Illustrated by the case of Hill v Baxter

Public duty

(Dytham) failed in his role as a police officer and ignored a fight.

Duty to remedy a dangerous situation

Miller failed to call for help when he accidentally started a fire.

Pagett

But for D using his girlfriend as a human shield she would not have been shot.

Legal Causation

There should be no intervening act that might break the chain of causation.

Kimsey

'More than a slight or trifling link' Legal causation

Benge

D was a foreman doing work on a train track and substantially caused the death through his own negligence

Williams

Victim's attempt to escape theft by jumping from a moving car was too daft and did break the chain of causation.

Kennedy

D's self injection broke the chain of events. a free voluntary and informed act can break causation.

Jordan

'Palpably wrong' medical treatment may break the chain of causation.

Smith

The injuries caused by D must be 'operating and substantive'.

Cheshire

D must be a significant contribution to the harm.

Mens Rea

Mental element of an offence.

Direct Intent

D's aim or purpose illustrated in the case of Mohan.

Indirect Intent

D foresees a consequence is virtually certain illustrated in the case of (Woollin) where D through his baby 'into the pram' killing it

Recklessness

D foresees a risk but acts anyway illustrated in the case of Cunningham.

Cunningham

While breaking into a gas meter D allowed gas to escape and poison the neighbours. D had not foreseen any risk of harm to them so was not reckless.

Coincidence of Actus Reus and Mens Rea

Actus Reus and Mens Rea usually have to happen at the same time unless one of the special exceptions apply.

Continuing Act

(Fagan) D unknowingly drove onto a policeman's foot but later refused to move. Actus Reus began as the car rolled onto the foot and was ongoing when the Mens Rea occurred at D's refusal to move.

Series of connected acts

(Thabo Meli) D attacked his victim intending to kill them and thinking they were dead dropped the body off a cliff which did kill them. various smaller acts are viewed as one single transaction which coincides with the MR formed at the start.

Pembliton

D threw a stone towards a gang but instead broke a window. Transferred Malice could not occur because the Mens Rea of the intended crime was too different to the actual crime committed.

Callow v Tillstone

Butcher convicted of selling food unfit for human consumption after he sold rotten meat despite asking a vet to certify its quality. Lack of intention to commit the offence was irrelevant since this was a crime of Strict Liability.

Harrow Council v Shah

Newsagent sold lotto to someone below 16 year of age despite having checks and procedures in place to ID customers. Lack of intention to commit the offence was irrelevant since this was a crime of Strict Liability.

Sweet v Parsley

Presumption of Mens Rea when D rented a farmhouse to students who used it to smoke cannabis

Alphacell

Factory accidentally polluted a local river. Lack of intention to commit the offence was irrelevant since this was a crime of Strict Liability.