|
There is a rich source of old cases where D was held criminally liable,
which predate the leading case of
Adomako (1994): |
|
R v Dant (1865) |
D
had a horse which he knew to be so vicious as to be dangerous; he turned
it out (onto a common) a place where there were paths on which he knew
people were likely to be; the horse killed such a person and D was
convicted of manslaughter. |
|
R v Benge (1865) |
D
was a railway lookout who misread timetable, fellow workers killed. |
|
R v Jones
(1874) |
Lush J directed the jury
that, if the accused pointed the gun at deceased without examining whether
it was loaded or not, he was guilty of manslaughter
By contrast in
R v Lamb [1967] CA there was an understandable mistake made by an
amateur who was unaware of mechanism of revolver.
|
|
R v Pittwood (1902) |
D
was a gatekeeper who failed to close level-crossing gates and a carter was
killed, a contract created a positive duty to act. |
|
There is a duty upon
workmen and others who throw rubbish etc or allow it to fall from a
height, not to endanger the lives of persons who may reasonably be
expected to be in a place of public resort below.
If they throw down such
things without giving a sufficient warning which is likely to be heard,
they may be guilty of manslaughter: |
|
R v Hull (1664)
|
throwing stones down a mine |
|
R v Rigmaidon (1833) |
where death was caused by casks which had
been insufficiently secured falling into the road.
|
|
For other cases of
manslaughter arising out of a duty imposed by law to do or not to do
certain things. |
|
R v Martin (1827) |
giving a very young child a considerable
quantity of spirits to drink which would now be covered by the Children
and Young Persons Act 1933.
|
