Murder, loss of control and diminished responsibility. by

Murder

430205_1 — 2024-05-24 10:44:00 UTC

Murder criteria- Of sound mind and discretion unlawfully killing ( not self defence or justified killing) any reasonable creature ( a human being).

Murder is an indictable offence and a common law offence because it has ben defied and developed through the years by court decisions and precedents rather than it being solely based on written laws and statutes.

In the Uk murder carries a mandatory life sentence. The judge will then determine the minimum number of the years the criminal must serve for being considered for parole.

Law reform (year and say rule) act 1996 updated the offence of murder by removing the requirement that the victim must die within a year and a day of the act causing their death for the perpetrator to be charged with murder. This change made it easy to prosecute individuals responsible for causing the deaths even if the victim succumbed to their injuries after a year and a day.

Diminished responsibility

430273_1 — 2024-05-24 10:47:53 UTC

Diminished responsibility requires the following criteria to be met: the defendant must be suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning, which provides an explanation for the defendant’s acts or omissions in being party to the killing, which arose from a recognised medical condition.

Loss of control

libbygranger1215 — 2024-05-24 10:48:12 UTC

Loss of control refers to the lack of ability to provide conscious limitation of impulses and behaviour as a result of extreme/overhwleming emotion.

430273_1 — 2024-05-24 10:48:35 UTC

Ted Bundy

430205_1 — 2024-05-24 10:48:45 UTC

Bundy was a notorious American serial killer who confessed to murdering at least 30 young women during the 1970s. He was eventually arrested for kidnapping in 1975, because of this he became a main suspect in many unsolved homicides, he was let go but was later recaptured in 1978. He received three death sentenced in two trails and was then executed by electric chair in 1989.

3 elements for loss of control

libbygranger1215 — 2024-05-24 10:50:13 UTC

1) The defendant must lose their self-control

2)The defendant must lose their self control as a result of a qualifying trigger

3)The definition of a qualifying trigger

Examples of diminished responsibility

430273_1 — 2024-05-24 10:51:12 UTC

Includes mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe depression or a personality disorder that would significantly impair an individual’s ability to understand the nature of their actions or foresee their consequences

Actus reus

430205_1 — 2024-05-24 10:51:25 UTC

Refers to the physical act or conduct that consitutes the crime of murder. It includes actions such as causing the death of another human with intent or recklessness.

libbygranger1215 — 2024-05-24 10:54:53 UTC

“It was him.”

430273_1 — 2024-05-24 10:55:59 UTC

The blame can be shifted

Mens Rea

430205_1 — 2024-05-24 10:57:09 UTC

Refers to the mental element or intention behind the crime of murder. It involves the intention to cause serious harm or death to another person either intentionally or with reckless disregard for human life.

libbygranger1215 — 2024-05-24 11:01:29 UTC

430273_1 — 2024-06-13 08:25:12 UTC