FT208- Criminal - Seminar 11 - Attempt/Involuntary Manslaughter by Claire Turner

Link to Prezi

claire43 — 2024-12-10 17:45:17 UTC

Link to Quiz

claire43 — 2025-12-09 13:42:27 UTC

claire43 — 2025-12-09 13:42:34 UTC

There is only one parking space left in the car park. Daniel and Jack both try to park in the space at the same time. Jack starts to drive into the space first. Daniel is enraged; he has been waiting for the space for 5 minutes. He also starts to drive into the space, partly blocking it. He opens the window of his car and shouts obscenities at Jack. Both men then get out of their vehicles and continue shouting and arguing. After a few more minutes of this, in a ‘moment of madness’, Jack pushes Daniel over. This causes Daniel to hit his head on the concrete surface of the car park, knocking him unconscious. Jack is arrested by a passing off-duty police officer, who also calls an ambulance. In the ambulance, Daniel is not secured properly and falls on the floor twice during the journey to hospital. At the hospital, he is found to have suffered a skull fracture and internal bleeding. He has surgery in order to save his life. This is initially successful. Two days later though, the wounds from where the surgeon had made incisions during the procedure become infected and he dies.

Discuss the potential criminal liability of Jack for the death of Daniel

claire43 — 2025-12-10 09:42:14 UTC

Murder - intention to kill or cause gbh. Intention- direct? No. Oblique (Woollin) - was death or serious injury a virtual certainty from pushing Daniel?

Unlawful Act MS

claire43 — 2025-12-10 09:54:01 UTC

DPP v Newbury

Criminal Act - Battery - intention/subject recklessness (Venna) to apply unlawful force (Collins v Wilcock)

Jack pushed Daniel - intended to apply force.

Causation - Factual - but for - White. But for Jack pushing Daniel would he have hit his head on concrete and been knocked unconscious?

Legal - Operating and substantial cause of the death (Smith) Pagett - de minimis.

2 intervening causes of possible negligence:

1) Falling in ambulance

2) Operation leading to infection

Cheshire - must be so potent and independent of the act of the defendant to break the chain of causation - Prosecution - the negligence of both the ambulance service and Dr was not extraordinary and so potent - no break in chain.

Defence - Jordan - palpably wrong treatment.

Only question mark what caused the internal bleeding? Was it related to the head injury or was it in a different part of the body caused by falling from the ambulance bed.

Dangerous - Church

R v JM & SM - needs to be some risk of harm. Not necessary the precise harm

Dangerous

If internal bleeding was caused by falling off the ambulance

claire43 — 2025-12-10 09:56:50 UTC

Gross Negligence Manslaughter - Adomako - Duty and breach, causation? - medical evidence what caused internal bleeding. Risk of death

Grossly negligence its a Crime - Lord McKay - 'so bad'