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Simple notes on the Causation Principles
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Simple and concise notes on the Causation principles with relevant case law.
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Lecture 4 – Causation PrinciplesGeneral Principles of Criminal Law
CAUSATION:
5: D Takes The Victim As They Find Them;
6: D’s Act As An Immediate Cause of Death;
7: Fright and Flight Cases;
8: Driving and Causation;
9. Voluntary Acts
FAULT: Mens Rea and Fundamental Principles on Intention
CAUSATION – (5) D TAKES THE VICTIM AS THEY FIND HIM
• It is a well-established principle in civil law as Ormerod and Laird state, that D takes the
victim of their wrong-doing as they find them – with all V’s subsisting weaknesses that might
exacerbate the injury resulting from D’s act, as where D pricks a haemophiliac with a pin, or
slaps the head of a person with an “egg-shell” skull – they will take full responsibility for the
harm
• According to Holland (1841) 2 Mood and R 357 and Blaue (1975) 1 W.L.R.1411 in the
criminal law, as in the civil law, D must take his victim as he finds them.
Holland (1841) 2 Mood and R 357
See facts:
• D in the course of a heated argument with V assaulted him, cutting him severely across one
of his fingers with an iron instrument
• V refused the initial advice of a surgeon to have the finger amputated - if he did not then his
life would be in great danger
• V subsequently died of lockjaw
• It was held that D was “responsible” for V’s death
• Maule J. told the jury that it made no difference whether the wound was in its own nature
instantly mortal or whether it became the cause of death by reason of V not having adopted
the best mode of treatment
• The question was whether in the end, the wound inflicted by D was the real cause of death
• The argument as Ormerod and Laird assert that medical science has advanced greatly since
1841 and that a refusal to undergo medical treatment reasonable then, would be
unreasonable now, did not impress the court in Blaue (discussed subsequently) – could be
said to be unreasonable to not accept treatment now because of science advancements
• The court did apply Holland in Blaue
• Whether V’s conduct was reasonable or not was irrelevant
, Blaue (1975) 1 W.L.R. 1411 – facts in Blaue are in Gavaghan QC
See facts:
• The rule that D must take V as he finds them is not limited to physical conditions and it was
established in this case that it also applies to the “whole person” and therefore applies to
mental conditions and even to V’s religion
• V who had been stabbed four times by D was a Jehovah's Witness and consequently refused
to have a blood transfusion which was required before surgery and which might have saved
her life
• The Court of Appeal held that V’s refusal to have medical treatment could not provide a
defence
• D would be liable if his act was still an “operating and substantial cause of death” – was
palpably the stab wounds that had been inflicted by D on V
• D was liable as the physical cause of death was the bleeding in the pleural cavity arising from
the penetration of the lung
• This was not brought about by any decision of V, but by the stab wound – brought about
from the unlawful act of D
• Rejecting an argument that V’s refusal had been unreasonable and prevented the death
being legally attributable to D, Lawton L.T in the appellate court asserted:
“It has long been the policy of the law that those who use violence on other
people must take their victims as the find them. This in our judgment means
the whole man, not just the physical man. It does not lie on the mouth of the
assailant to say that his victim’s religious beliefs which inhibited her from
accepting certain kinds of treatment were unreasonable. The question for
decision is what caused the death. The answer is the stab wound.”
Cogent illustration of taking the victim as you find them, as the whole person
Dear (1996) L.R.595
See facts:
• D, who had heard that V had sexually interfered with his daughter, slashed him repeatedly
with a knife
• V dies 2 days later as a result of the wounds
• D argued that the chain of causation was broken between his actions and the death
because V had committed suicide either by reopening his wounds or wounds having
reopened themselves by failing to staunch the consequent blood flow – he was so appalled
buy their own actions of sexual assault so they reopened the wounds – resulting in the
suicide
• It was argued that the suicide would have broken the chain of causation i.e. preventing legal
attribution of the death to D
Ratio:
• D’s appeal against conviction for murder was dismissed
• The appellate court agreed with the trial judge’s direction that if V had reopened his
wounds or failed to stop the bleeding because of the fact of the attack (which had
horrifically disfigured him) the question for them was whether the injuries inflicted by D
were an operating and substantial cause of death and it was irrelevant whether V had
treated himself with mere negligence or gross neglect
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