Summary Constructive Manslaughter- Full notes

CONSTRUCTIVE MANSLAUGHTER

• Occurs when the defendant lacks mens rea for murder.



ACTUS REUS MENS REA

• Unlawful act • Intention to do the unlawful
act.
• Dangerous
• Likely to cause harm
• Resulted in death



UNLAWFUL ACT

• Omission will not suffice- R v Lowe (positive act)
• The unlawful act need not be directed at the victim- R v Goodfellow
• If the D injects V with a drug and if he dies- unlawful act
• Force outside the rules of the game- manslaughter if the V dies.



DANGEROUS ACT

• Objective test
• R v Church- “would all sober and reasonable people foresee the risk of some harm
stemming from the accused’s act?”
• The risk of ‘death’ or ‘serious injury’ need not be foreseen by the defendant.
• R v Dawson- the jury will be put in the same position with the same knowledge the
accused had at the time of the offence. *the harm should be physical*
• But, as per R v Ireland- mental harm can be taken into consideration.



CAUSE DEATH

• Must be a direct cause of the death- R v Dalby (there must be no Novus actus
interveniens)
• The House stated that a drug dealer will never be responsible for the death of a user
where the user is a fully informed and responsible adult who voluntarily chooses to
administer the drug- R v Kennedy