Involuntary Manslaughter

You will understand the law on Involuntary manslaughter Learning Outcome: You will understand the law on Involuntary manslaughter

Types of Involuntary Manslaughter Constructive or Unlawful Act Manslaughter Gross Negligence Manslaughter Subjective Reckless Manslaughter Key point: The defendant commits the actus reus for murder BUT lacks the mens rea for murder

Involuntary Manslaughter Constructive or Unlawful Act Gross Negligence The defendant commits an unlawful dangerous act which results in death The defendant commits a lawful act which results in death

Unlawful Act Manslaughter – Elements of offence: There must be an unlawful act The unlawful act must be dangerous The unlawful dangerous act must cause death

The Unlawful Act… There has to be a positive ACT Omissions are not enough (Khan & Khan 1998; Lowe 1973) If there is no unlawful act there can be no conviction of this type of manslaughter (Lamb 1967) The unlawful act has to be an offence against criminal law (Franklin 1883) The unlawful act does not have to be directed at the victim (Larkin 1942) The unlawful act can be against property (Goodfellow 1986)

Dangerous Act… The unlawful act must be dangerous The definition of DANGEROUS is given in Church (1965) The test is OBJECTIVE and is concerned with whether a reasonable person would realise the risk of some harm

Humphries J said the following in the case Dangerous Act Cases Larkin (1943) Facts of Case – The defendant threatened another man with an open cut-throat razor in order to frighten him. The mistress of the other man tried to intervene and, because she was drunk, accidentally fell onto the open blade which cut her throat. On appeal his conviction for manslaughter was upheld. The act of threatening the other man was a technical assault. It was also dangerous because it was likely to injure someone. Humphries J said the following in the case

Dangerous Act… The risk need only be of SOME harm – NOT serious harm (JM & SM (2012) There is no need to have foreseen a specific type of harm (Larkin 1943) Even if the ACT is aimed at a property as in the case of Goodfellow (1986) the jury have to consider whether a reasonable person would realise there was a risk of some harm Mere fear is not enough (Dawson 1985)

Cause Death… The act must be the physical and legal cause of death (like causation for murder) An intervening act by the victim can break the chain of causation (Dalby 1982) In the case of Kennedy (2007) the mere act of preparing an injection is not the cause of death. In this case the victim broke the chain of causation by injecting themselves with the illegal drug

Mens rea The defendant must have the mens rea for the unlawful act. It is not necessary to prove that the defendant foresaw any harm from his unlawful act Newbury & Jones (1976)