Actus Reus
Factual Causation
White – son tried to kill his mother by giving her a glass of poison. However, before she could take it she died from heart failure. He was charged with attempted murder not murder. ‘but-for’ test applied.
Pagett – it is for the judge to direct the jury with the relevant principles of law as to whether a causal link has been established for causation.
Legal Causation
Jordan - medical treatment not novus actus inteveniens unless it is palpably wrong
Smith – medical treatment given was palpably wrong. Guilty
Cheshire – negligent treatment by doctor will not exclude the liability of the defendant if the treatment was a direct consequence of the defendant’s act and the contribution of the defendant’s acts were still significant at the time of death
Mellor – only if the medical treatment was a potent cause of death and independent of the defendant’s actions would it relieve him of responsibility
Intention
Steane
Gillick - doctor prescribed girl with contraception pill against her mother’s consent an she claimed he was aiding and abetting unlawful sexual intercourse. Court said he was not and was not guilty.
Foresight and Intent
Woolin – foresight and virtual certainty of death and serious injury
Subjective Recklessness
Cunningham – prosecution must prove that the defendant either intended or foresaw that the particular kind of harm might result and went on to take the risk of it.
Objective recklessness
Caldwell – a person was reckless for failing to consider a risk that would have been obvious to a reasonable person.
Elliot – where Caldwell recklessness sufficed, it was not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the accused was aware of the risk in question and unnecessary that the defendant would have been and could have been aware of the risk had he stopped to think about it.
Move towards subjectivism
Savage and Parmenter – mens rea of s20 offence - defendant intended and foresaw the risk of some harm, not necessarily serious harm
Adomako – manslaughterr by gross negligence includes reckless manslaughter
Homicide
Unlawful Killing
Williams and Beckford- mistaken genuine belief in facts, which if true, would justify self- defence is an excuse to a crime of personal violence because the belief negatives the intent to act