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Debra Actus Reus Of Murder

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LL4002 Criminal Law,Feb.Start
Though there is no definite definition of Murder but according to Lord Justice Coke, is ‘’the unlawful killing of a reasonable creature in rerum natura under the King’s peace, with malice aforethought...”
The prosecution would be able to prove Debra committed the actus reus of murder by causing grievous bodily harm. In this question, Debra inflicts unlawful harm by slamming the frying pan on Viktor’s head, which is the actus reus of murder. Debra has factual and legal cause of Viktor’s death. ‘But for’ her actions, he would not have died in (White [1910]2, KB 124). Her actions were operating and substantial cause of his death (Smith [1959]2, QB 35). Debra is legally liable for the cause of the result. The prosecution …show more content…

Loss of control defence is a partial under s54(1) of the coroners and justice Act 2009 in (Ahluwalia [1992]4 All ER 889), the explains that where a person kills or is a party to the killing of another ,defendant is not to be convicted of murder if a) act and omissions in doing or at the time of killing defendant must have suffered a loss of self-control b) that the loss of control must have been caused by a qualifying trigger under s55 and lastly someone of the same age and sex with a normal degree of tolerance in the same circumstance might have reacted the way the defendant did. There is no delay between the trigger, when hears Viktor laughing and Debra slams the frying pan on Viktor’s head, but this could be negated by the fact that she feels she cannot bear the stress anymore and wants to silence Viktor for ever. But if Debra could argue that there is a qualifying trigger that is fear or anger trigger to Debra loss of control because of her fear of serious violence from Viktor evidence of what she has gone through in the marriage. It was in this state of fear and anxiety Debra was when she heard Viktor laughing, she’s gripped with anger and believes he was laughing at her, fells seriously wrong and cannot bear the stress anymore which ended in her action. In my own view, it is very likely the defendant is able to rely on this defence in the sense that she has …show more content…

Jordan [2001] 2 WLR 211) makes provision for a person defendant who kills or is a party to the killing of another is not to be convicted of murder if defendant is suffering from a) abnormality of mental functioning b)which arose from a recognised medical condition c)must substantially impaired D’s ability to do one or more of the things (Lloyd [1966]) i) be able to understand the nature of his conduct ii) form a rational judgement iii) exercise self-control, as in the case of Bryne (1960). d) The abnormality must be able to provide an explanation to the cause of killing. Debra bears the legal burden of proof to prove this defence on a balance of probability that she was suffering from diminished responsibility at the time. In this scenario, she is suffering from long term anxiety and stress disorder which she is receiving treatment from her GP and a psychologist. This is a recognised medical condition. It is very likely that Debra will be able to rely on this defence if she is able to present a certification, a medical report from a recognised psychiatrist. The fact that Debra has been subjected to criticism and verbal abuse throughout the marriage this pressure has substantially impaired her rational judgement, which made her not to understand her irrational judgement, in her head she wants to silence Viktor

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