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Legal Advice Case Study Essay

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Legal Advice Case Study Late one Saturday night Chris, who is a fanatical Manchester United supporter, is walking home, when he sees a stone on the pavement in front of him. Pretending that he is Ryan Giggs and with only the goal keeper to beat, Chris lets fly at the stone with his trusty left foot. The stone strikes Dan, who is walking his dog, on the shin. Chris says he didn't see Dan because it was very dark and he didn't think anyone was around, and also because he had been to a …show more content…

What needs to be questioned is whether Chris's behaviour was correct. We must therefore look at this from the point of whether a reasonable man would have acted this way. The defendant would not be liable if the event was unforeseeable but he could be still found guilty if the act he committed was reasonably foreseen and not of proper behaviour If, as a rational man, Chris had realised the result of his actions, he would unlikely have kicked the stone in the first place. If he had used foresight and was aware of the danger to others from his actions. Then he would be more accessible to the overall consequences. At the most this was an act of recklessness but as the offence which occurred was inadvertent it would be considered a Caldwell type of recklessness as it was objective as opposed to subjective. Chris merely failed to consider an obvious risk but the act was not malicious. In court the jury should be directed that they are not entitled to find the necessary intention, unless they feel sure that the offence was a virtual certainty (barring some unforeseen intervention) as a result of the defendant’s actions and that the defendant appreciated that such was the case. Chris was intoxicated and his mind would obviously been distorted. The potent mix of alcohol and cannabis would have been a lethal cocktail resulting in the poor vision which he

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