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Involuntary Manslaughter Revision Sheet

Gross Negligence Manslaughter

GNM is when a person dies due to the negligence of another when the negligence is serious enough
to make them liable for the death
...
A duty of care is owed to:
perso s ho are so losely a d dire tly affe ted y
o te platio as ei g affe ted
...
This case established
the elements required to prove GNM:
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A duty of care must exist between on the part of D to V
There was a breach in this duty of care, which cause death
The gross negligence is such as to be considered criminal by the jury

Stone and Dobinson 1977 – D s rea hed their duty of are he a elderly lady died hilst they
should have cared for her
...

Lichfield 1998 – Contractual duty of care owed towards crew members by the ship owner and
master – 3 crew members died when the ship hit rocks
...
This as u lear, ut
confirmed the 2 following cases
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Stone and Dobinson – risk to the health a d elfare

Mens rea
The mens rea regarding GNM is not intention as the essence of involuntary manslaughter is that
there is not an intention to kill or cause serious harm
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Involuntary Manslaughter Revision Sheet

Unlawful Act Manslaughter
U la ful a t a slaughter is he D auses V s death hilst arryi g out a ri i al a t that is
deemed to be dangerous
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Lamb 1967 – 2 men were playing with a gun that they thought would not fire, but it did and one was
shot dead
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Dangerous act
The objective test used to determine a dangerous act was stated by Edmund Davis in Church 1966
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The defendant was guilty of manslaughter
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Watson 1989 – in determining what is dangerous, the jury should consider what the D would have
known about V at the time of the offence
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Substantial cause of death
The normal rules of causation apply to manslaughter as they do to murder, including the thin skull
rule
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D was the direct cause of death
...
This broke the chain of causation
where D did not inject the drug in to V
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Mens rea
A positive act is required for UAM, there cannot be an omission
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Newbury and Jones 1976 – Boys killed a train guard by pushing a paving stone off a bridge
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Le Brun 1991 – D punched his wife who died as a result of a fractured skull
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The overlap between GNM and UAM
Goodfellow 1986 – D deliberately set fire to his accommodation to get an alternative
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He was convicted of UAM
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