Any delay between the qualifying trigger(s) and the loss of control does not render the defence void, the defence is still available where a defendant later reacts to the ‘cumulative impact’ of earlier events.
#criminallaw #alevellaw
VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
00:15 Case facts
01:12 Case outcome and legal principle
CASE SUMMARY
Facts:
The defendant and victim were in a relationship, the victim had multiple children from a previous relationship and agreed to a reverse sterilisation to have a child with the defendant. The victim began a sexual relationship with another man. During the night the defendant entered the victim’s house with a knife, within the course of an argument the victim was stabbed. The defendant sought to claim that the stabbing and subsequent death was an accident and that he had only taken the knife to pull up the carpets. When prosecuted for murder the judge declined to leave the issue of loss of control to the jury.
Outcome: Appeal dismissed. Guilty of murder.
Legal principle:
Generally, the breakdown of the relationship will not meet the threshold requirements of the anger trigger to be considered justifiable, although it was recognised that other circumstances can also be considered which may vary this fact.
