Self-test questions: Manslaughter

. Humza owned a popular nightclub in the city centre. He did not want his nightclub to gain a reputation for encouraging violent drunken behaviour and had started to stand with his security guards during the evening. Patrons of the nightclub had to climb a flight of stairs to enter the club. Barry came up the stairs and Humza refused him admission. Barry responded by shouting loudly and appeared to be about to grab Humza, according to a witness. Humza was intimidated by Barry's large size and shouting. He believed Barry was about to attack him with his fists. In an effort to avoid this, Humza lunged at Barry with his full force and Barry fell down the stairs. The fall was such that Barry died from his injuries. Consider the following statements. Which one most accurately reflects the law relating to manslaughter and Humza's liability for Barry's death?

. After a falling down a set of stairs Edward was rushed to hospital. He was diagnosed with a debilitating injury had damaged his spinal cord. He was unable to return home immediately. Laila, a junior doctor, had nearly finished a double shift and had not slept for 24 hours. She gave him painkillers without checking his records, which stated that he was allergic to certain painkillers. Edward died following an allergic reaction to the painkiller. Which of the following statements most accurately reflects Laila's potential liability for a homicide offence?

. Donald hosted a birthday party for his five-year-old son. After the guests arrived the children began to play party games. One of the games involved jumping into a swimming pool in Donald's garden. One of the guests, Joey, a shy six-year-old, refused to take part in the game. However, as he was passing close by, Donald playfully pushed Joey into the pool. Joey hit her head on the bottom of the pool. Donald called for an ambulance immediately and pulled Joey out of the pool. However, Joey sadly died. Which of the following statements most accurately reflects Donald's potential criminal liability in respect of Joey's death?

. On a lovely sunny day at the beach Oswald takes a swim in the sea. He went further out than he realised and got into trouble when a wave pulled him under the water. Josh was nearby and pulled Oswald out of the water and to the safety of the shore. Oswald appeared to be unconscious and needed a first aider. Amina, a trained nurse, gave Oswald artificial respiration, however, she had been drinking alcohol throughout the day and she did a terrible job. Oswald died and the post mortem showed that the treatment he had received from Amina was a substantial cause of his death. Which of the following statement most accurately reflects the criminal liability of Amina for Oswald's death?

. Draper and Felix (aged 15) liked watching old movies together and recently discovered the film 'The Fugitive'. They set out to recreate it as best they could. They found an old transit van, and drove it onto an unmanned level crossing and left it there, in the path of what they assumed would be the late evening heavy freight train that travelled slowly at night. They were wrong, the train that crashed into the van was a passenger train travelling at 110 mph. The crash caused a fire and 10 people were killed, including the driver and nine passengers. Draper and Felix were shocked that their actions had caused so many people to die.

Which of the following statements is the most accurate in regards to the criminal liability of Draper and Felix?

. Elsa was the carer for her grandmother, who was very demanding. One day her grandmother snarled at Elsa and said 'you are so useless, I hate you, you useless waste of space.' Feeling aggrieved Elsa did not visit her grandmother for a month. She would normally, in the space of a month, collected her grandmother's repeat prescription, made meals for her, washed her laundry and washed her. When she returned to her grandmother's house she found her grandmother had died. The house was in a foul state and her grandmother was very thin. The post mortem revealed that she had died of malnutrition. Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the criminal liability of Elsa for the death of her grandmother?

. Law students, William and Grace, were deliberating about what amounts to the correct definition of the word 'dangerous' in the context of constructive manslaughter. Which of the following statements most accurately reflects this definition according to current case law?

. Jamal's defence lawyer would like to raise the defence of loss of control manslaughter in respect of a murder charge. Which of the following statements applies in this situation?

. Horace was sacked from his job by his boss Cameron. On his way home, Horace stopped at a hardware store and purchased a variety of tools, including a hammer. He thought he might use them to do some chores around the hose now that her no longer had a job. However, he arrived home and discovered Cameron having sexual intercourse with his wife Kathy. Cameron looked up at Horace, grinned at him and said 'you loser! I can take everything you have away from you, your job, your reputation and your wife. It is very amusing.' Outraged Horace pulled the hammer out of his bag and hit Cameron 50 times around the head and upper body with it. Cameron died as a result of his injuries.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the application of the loss of control defence to Horace?

. After years of domestic abuse, Angela was highly distressed by her husband, Alan's behaviour on a daily basis. One day Alan threw the meal Angela had cooked him into the bin and called her a useless cow, who would never find another man who could put up with her. Alan then demanded that she cook another meal for him. As Angela cooked his second meal, Angela began to feel more and more distressed and hopeless, thinking that she would never be able to be free of her husband, he would always find her and bring her down. The years of abuse came into her mind. She served him his meal, and as he began she struck him in the head with a very large kitchen knife. She did it many times, until she was sure he was dead and that she was free of him.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the application of the loss of control defence to Angela?

. Ethan broke into Matt's flat intending to steal something. Matt was in the flat sleeping, but awoke to find Ethan there. Realising that Ethan was trying to steal from the flat, Matt shouted at Ethan, 'you are such a stupid idiot, you look like a complete fool and such an ugly moron. Get out of my flat!' Matt then began to throw things that were close at hand, at Ethan. Ethan was furious at being called names and punched Matt until he was no longer conscious. Matt died from his injuries.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the application of partial defences to murder to Ethan?

. Percy was a regular binge drinker. Every Friday he would drink as much vodka as he could until he passed out. One Friday night he was arguing with his neighbour, Petra and he became incredibly angry. Percy smashed his bottle of vodka and used the sharp remains to attack Petra. He continued the attack long after she had died from her injuries. Percy is charged with murder and the defence are exploring potential partial defences.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the application of partial defences to murder to Percy?

. Ursula experienced years of coercive and controlling abuse by her husband, Bill. As a result, it had made her entirely dependent upon him and she was unable to cope with the prospect of the relationship ending. She had been diagnosed with an anxiety condition. Bill enjoyed controlling Ursula, but he wanted to experience other relationships. He regularly had affairs, and when confronted by Ursula about them, Bill told he she was mad and completely wrong. One day Ursula found a message on Bill's phone from another woman, that revealed that Bill was going to end his marriage with Ursula. In a daze, Ursula prepared Bill's meal. When he began to eat it she hit him many times over the head with a hammer. He died from his injuries.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the application of partial defences to murder to Ursula?

. Dieter was heavily intoxicated when he killed Victor. At the time of the killing D was also suffering from a mental abnormality, a form of depression following the death of his mother to whom he was very close. Applying the ruling in R v Dietschmann [2003] which of the following statements most accurately reflects the application of diminished responsibility in cases where the defendant was intoxicated and suffered an abnormality of mental functioning?

. Erica loves her grandmother, Vera, very much. Vera has been very ill and in a great deal of pain for many months and asks Erica to feed her all the painkilling medicine that she has in order to end her life. Erica has a detachment disorder and finds the idea of Vera suffering any more, incredibly difficult to deal with. After repeated requests Erica helps her grandmother to take the painkillers and Vera dies.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the application of diminished responsibility to Erica?

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