The offence of Voluntary Manslaughter with the two possible defences within the scope of english criminal law and with the proper and relevant case law.
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VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER
MR + AR of murder BUT there is a DEFENCE
KEY TERMS
Diminished responsibility D was suffering an abnormality of mental functioning which lessened their
responsibility for the killing.
Voluntary manslaughter D would be guilty of murder, but a successful defense has been raised.
LOSS OF CONTROL
Only a defense to a charge of murder. If raised successfully, D will be guilty of manslaughter.
S 54, CORONERS AND JUSTICE ACT 2009 Created the offence and replaced the old defense of
provocation. D must prove:
1) Loss of control
2) D’s actions or omissions were because of a loss of control, resulting from a qualifying trigger
3) A person of D’s sex and age, with a normal degree of tolerance and self-restrain, would have responded
to the trigger in the same way
D MUST LOSE SELF- CONTROL
Only available if D lost control at the time of the killing.
JEWELL (2014) Loss of control includes the loss of the ability to act in accordance with judgment
or a loss of normal powers of reasoning
S 54 (4), CJA 2009 D will not be able to rely on the defense when acting for revenge
S 54 (2), CJA 2009 No need for the loss of control to be sudden. However, the longer between the
qualifying trigger, the more difficult it will be for D to show that they lost control
D MUSTO LOSE SELF-CONTROL AS THE RESULT OF A QUALIFYING TRIGGER
ACOTT (1997) Old law of provocation
S 55, CJA 2009 Three possible qualifying triggers:
1) S 55 (3) Fear of serious violence
2) S 55 (4) A sense of being seriously wronged
3) S 55 (5) A combination of S 55(3) and S 55 (4)
FEAR OF SERIOUS VIOLENCE AS A QUALIFYING TRIGGER
S 55 (3), CJA 2009 Circumstances when this trigger can arise:
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