A murder is committed if a person of sound mind unlawfully kills another, with the intention to kill or cause the victim grievous bodily harm (i.e. GBH or really serious harm) [link to GBH].
Other than being wrongly accused there is only one ‘complete defence’ to murder and that is self-defence. There are a number of ‘partial defences’ to murder, the most well-known being Loss of Control and Diminished Responsibility. They are called ‘partial’ defences because they ‘reduce’ murder to the offence of voluntary manslaughter, which is discussed below.
Defences
- Self-defence
Everybody has the right to use reasonable force to defend themselves and/or others. Should this result in the assailant dying, the defence of self-defence may still be open to someone accused of murder. For this defence to succeed, the court must find that his or her actions were reasonable in all the circumstances.
- Loss of control
Under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, the partial defence of loss of control replaced the common law defence of provocation. The key elements are:
- The defendant lost control.
- The loss of control was triggered by a qualifying factor, such as fear of serious violence or a reaction to extremely grave circumstances.
- A person with the defendant’s personal characteristics, and in the defendant’s circumstances might have reacted in the same or similar circumstances.
- Diminished Responsibility
Diminished responsibility is another partial defence. It is governed by the Homicide Act 1957 and applies when the offender was suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning which arose from a recognised mental condition that impaired their ability to:
- Understand the nature of their conduct.
- Form a rational judgment.
- Exercise self-control.
And that this provides an explanation for how they acted and what they did.
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- Automatism
If the defendant’s actions were involuntary due to an external factor (e.g., a medical condition causing seizures), they may claim automatism.
Attempted Murder
For a prosecution to succeed, the Crown must show that the accused did an act that they intended would kill their victim (i.e. not just to cause GBH). Because the prosecution must specifically prove an intent to kill, attempted murder is a very difficult offence to prove, and the prosecution will often charge an offence of GBH or may be wiling to accept a plea to GBH instead.
Manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter requires an intention to kill but means that one of the partial defences discussed above applies. Involuntary manslaughter covers those situations in which a person does not intend to kill or cause GBH but nevertheless their actions have caused the death of someone. There are usually two ways this can occur, this may be because their actions were unlawful and dangerous or because their actions were grossly negligent.
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