MURDER
• How to describe and apply murder in a
scenario style A level question.
Identify the offence of murder
• Murder is the unlawful killing of
a person in being within the
Queen’s peace with malice
aforethought.
• Murder is a common law
offence with a mandatory life
sentence if found guilty.
Define/describe the actus reus and the
mens rea
• ‘A person in being’ is neither a feotus (A-G’s ref no.3 of 1994) nor a
person who is brain dead ( R v Malcherek).
• ‘Under the queen’s peace’ means that killing an enemy in wartime
is not murder however a royal marine who killed a wounded
prisoner was found guilty of murder ( see case of Sgt Alex
Blackman).
• The mens rea is m_________ a___________
• This means either intent to _____ or intent to do_____ ( R v
V_________) intent can be either direct or indirect oblique intent.
Direct in the case of Mohan is a decision by the defendant to bring
about the outcome. Indirect is assessed by a two part test
established in the cases of (Nedrick, where a man set fire to a
house and a child died in the fire) and (Woollin, where a man
caused the death of his baby by throwing it towards a pram).
Indirect intent is where the outcome is a virtual certainty, and the
defendant knows this. IN Matthews & Alleyne it was said Indirect
intent is only evidence for the existence of intent but is not intent
itself.
Application of ‘unlawful killing…’
murder ACTUS REUS
• V is a person in being and this killing is not in wartime.
• ‘But for’ D pushing V at the top of the stairs she would
not have fallen and broken her neck and died.
• “BUT for (White / Pagett) …….. Intervening act… blah
blah blah action of victim blah blah blah not
reasonable and proportionate etc (Roberts / William &
Davies) --- OR doctor was negligent BUT acts of D still
the operative and substantial cause blah, blah (Smith /
Jordan) OR had a rare condition blah, blah, (R v Blaue)
OR switching off life support (Malcherek, Airedale NHS
Trust v Bland) blah blah blah…… DIED”
Application of ‘malice aforethought’
MENS REA
• D had direct intent because killing him/her was his/her
purpose or aim (Mohan).. We know D wanted to kill
her because it was D’’s aim..… OR it is a virtual
certainty she would die from his actions and he knew
that…. (Nedrick / Woollin)
• D had direct intent to do GBH, it was his/her purpose
because…… OR s/he had indirect (oblique)intent to do
GBH because…. [ eg tripping someone at the top of a
staircase and causing them to fall]… is virtually certain
to cause really serious harm (GBH) and he would have
known this (Nedrick, Woollin).