|
Actus reus of Gross
Negligence Manslaughter. |
|
Involuntary manslaughter by gross negligence
requires a breach of duty which causes death |
The essential elements are:
(1)
existence of the duty;
(2) breach of the duty causing death; and
(3)
gross negligence which jury considers justifies criminal conviction,
(4) the gross negligence was a substantial
cause of the death (see the indictment in
R v Litchfield (1998))
See
R v Adomako [1994] HL which overruled
R v Seymour. |
|
Who can be liable for a death? |
In
R v Bennett (1858) D had unlawfully kept in his house a quantity of
fireworks, which, through the negligence of his employees, were set on
fire, and thus caused the death of the deceased, and it was held that the
accused could not be convicted of manslaughter, it was held that D is not
responsible criminally if the death was directly caused in his absence by
the negligence of his employees or others.
It is no defence that the death was caused
by the negligence of others as well as of the accused; if death is
occasioned by the act or default of several, they are all guilty of
manslaughter
R v Benge (1865)
R v Gibbins and Proctor (1918) (convicted of murder)
R v Stone & Dobinson [1977] CA.
The particular negligence imputed to the
accused must, however, have been a substantial cause of the death
Several persons in pursuit of a common purpose
may be guilty of negligence and so guilty of manslaughter even if only one
of their number commits the actual negligent act. Although, normally
the law seeks liability in one person, R (on the application of
Bodycote HIP Ltd) v County of Herefordshire Coroner [2008] QBD.
|
|
Can be a wilful act or omission |
Unlike Unlawful Act manslaughter, which
cannot be committed by an omission, Gross Negligence manslaughter can be
committed by either an act or an omission.
|
|
The existence of a duty of care |
|
The ordinary principles of the law of
negligence apply as in the definition of "duty of care" |
Lord Atkin in
Donoghue v Stevenson [1932]. |
|
Duty of care extends to a person upon whom
the law imposes a duty of care or who has taken upon himself a duty, to
preserve life |
D is liable where that duty exists or has
been undertaken and D, regardless of the life, safety, welfare and health
of others, neglects to perform that duty or performs it negligently and
thereby causes the death of another person.
For example
R v Pittwood (1902)
R v Stone & Dobinson [1977]. |
|
Duty of care can be Dr/patient
Manager of property/tenant
Master of sailing ship/crew
Electrician |
A duty of care has been held to apply to a
doctor towards his patient
Adomako (1994)
a manager and maintainer of property where
there was a faulty gas fire
Singh (1999)
the owner and master of a sailing ship to
the crew
Litchfield (l998) |
|
Duty to summon medical assistance |
In
Khan (1998) a duty situation was held to include a duty to summon
medical assistance in some situations. |
