ABSTRACT
In Thabo Meli (South Africa, 1954) a gang hit their victim’s head with an instrument. Believing him to be dead, they rolled him over a cliff to make his death appear accidental. But the victim actually survived the assault, dying from exposure at the foot of the cliff. In their defence, the gang argue that the initial assault was merely attempted murder, and that in rolling him over the cliff they did not intend to kill him, since they thought he was dead already. Are they nevertheless not guilty of murder?
