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When is a defendant guilty of manslaughter?
What is the actus reus of unlawful and dangerous act manslaughter?
What is unlawful and dangerous act manslaughter?
What are the required sentence provisions for unlawful act manslaughter?
What are the two types of involuntary manslaughter?
What are the elements of constructive or unlawful act manslaughter?
There are four elements that need to be satisfied in order to establish the actus reus of unlawful and dangerous act manslaughter. (1) The defendant must carry out an act. As was held in R v Lowe [1973] QB 702 the actus reus for the offence is positive in the sense that the defendant must physically do something.
- Involuntary Manslaughter Case Summaries
Lord Salmon explained that a defendant was guilty of...
- Involuntary Manslaughter Case Summaries
Oct 15, 2024 · A person, acting in pursuance of a suicide pact between themselves and another, who kills the other or is a party to the other being killed by a third person, is guilty of manslaughter and not...
- An Unlawful Act
- The Act Must Be Dangerous
- Substantial Cause of Death
- Mens Rea
R v Franklin (1883) 15 Cox CC 163
The defendant while walking along a pier, took up a “good sized box” from a stall and threw it into the sea where it struck a swimmer and killed him. The defendant was guilty of manslaughter as death arose from an unlawful act, ie taking another’s property and throwing it into the sea.
The defendant pointed a loaded gun at his friend in jest. He did not intend to injure or alarm the victim and the victim was not alarmed. There were two bullets in the chambers but neither was in the chamber opposite the barrel. Because they did not understand how a revolver works, both thought there was no danger in pulling the trigger. But when the defendant did so, the barrel rotated placing a bullet opposite the firing pin and the victim was killed. The defendant was not guilty of a crimi...
R v Arobieke [1988] Crim LR 314
The defendant had been convicted of manslaughter on the basis that his presence at a railway station had caused the victim, whom he knew to be terrified of him, to attempt an escape by crossing the railway tracks, with the result that he was electrocuted. The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction on the ground that there had been no criminal act by the defendant, as the evidence did not show that the defendant had physically threatened or chased the deceased.
R v Church [1966] 1 QB 59
The defendant had gone to his van with a woman for sexual purposes. She mocked his impotence and he had attacked her, knocking her out. The defendant panicked, and wrongfully thinking he had killed her, threw her unconscious body into a river, where she drowned. The defendant was convicted of manslaughter. He had acted unlawfully towards the victim in a way that sober and reasonable people would appreciate involved risk of injury to the victim. Edmund-Davies J provided a definition of dangero...
R v Dawson (1985) 81 Cr App R 150
The defendant and two other men carried out an attempted robbery at a petrol station. The cashier at the petrol station was a 60 year old man who, unknown to the defendants, suffered from a heart disease. Dawson had pointed a replica handgun at the victim and his partner had banged a pick-axe handle on the counter. Money was demanded, but the victim pressed the alarm button and the defendants fled empty handed. Shortly afterwards the victim collapsed and died from a heart attack. The defendan...
R v Watson [1989] 1 WLR 684
The defendant had burgled a house occupied by an 87 year old man who suffered from a heart condition. The defendant disturbed the victim, and verbally abused him, but made off without stealing anything. The police were called shortly afterwards, and a local council workman arrived to repair the windows broken by the defendant in gaining entry. An hour and a half after the burglary the victim had a heart attack and died. The defendant was convicted of manslaughter but appealed successfully on...
R v Dalby [1982] 1 WLR 425
The defendant was a drug addict who lawfully obtained drugs on prescription. He gave some of the tablets to the victim, also known to be a drug addict. The victim had consumed a large quantity of the drug in one session, and subsequently injected himself with other substances. The following morning he was found to have died of a drug overdose. The defendant was convicted of unlawful act manslaughter, based on his unlawful supply of the controlled drug, and he appealed on the basis that his su...
R v Mitchell [1983] 2 WLR 938
The defendant, having become involved in an argument whilst queuing in a post office, pushed an elderly man, causing him to fall accidentally on the deceased, an elderly woman, who subsequently died in hospital from her injuries. The defendant was convicted of unlawful act manslaughter. He unsuccessfully appealed on the ground that his unlawful act had not been directed at the victim. Staughton J held that although there was no direct contact between the defendant and the victim, she was inju...
R v Goodfellow (1986) 83 Cr App R 23
The defendant had deliberately fire bombed his own council house in the hope that he would be rehoused by the council. His wife and children, who had been in the house, were killed in the ensuing blaze. He appealed against his conviction for manslaughter on the ground that his unlawful act (criminal damage) had not been directed at the victims as required by Dalby. The Court of Appeal held that Dalbyshould not be construed as requiring proof of an intention on the part of the defendant to har...
DPP v Newbury and Jones [1976] AC 500
The defendants, both teenage boys, had thrown a piece of paving stone from a railway bridge onto a train which had been passing beneath them. The object struck and killed the guard who had been sitting in the driver’s compartment. The defendants were convicted of manslaughter, and unsuccessfully appealed, on the ground that they had not foreseen that their actions might cause harm to any other person. Lord Salmon explained that a defendant was guilty of manslaughter if it was proved that he i...
Lecture notes on the law of constructive manslaughter (unlawful act manslaughter). Provides a consideration of each of the elements: the need to establish an unlawful act which is dangerous, resulting in death. Includes relevant case summaries.
The required sentence provisions apply when a person is convicted of unlawful act manslaughter committed on or after 28 June 2022, the offender was aged 16 or over at the offence date and the offence was committed against an emergency worker acting in the exercise of functions as such a worker.
Jul 31, 2018 · Involuntary manslaughter is unlawful killing without the intent to kill or cause really serious harm and is a common law offence. There are two classes of involuntary manslaughter: unlawful act manslaughter and manslaughter by gross negligence.
Unlawful act manslaughter (also known as constructive manslaughter) This is where it is proved that the defendant intentionally committed an unlawful and dangerous act that caused the victim’s death.