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Held, upholding the submissions: (1) that if the expert could not be sure that heroin caused the deceased’s death, the jury could not be and (2) that the alternative submission was well-founded. Regard was had to Cato (1976) 62 Cr App R 41 and Dalby (1982) 74 Cr App R 348: the facts proved were closest to Dalby. Notes and queries 1 In R v Dalby [1982] 1 All ER 916, the defendant supplied drugs to the deceased who consumed them with fatal consequences. The Court of Appeal allowed Dalby’s appeal, inter alia, on the ground that the act of supply did not cause ‘direct harm’ to the deceased. This aspect of the decision was subsequently approved by the Court of Appeal in R v Goodfellow (1986) 83 Cr App R 23. For extracts from these cases see further Chapter 15. 2 In R v Kennedy [1999] Crim LR 65 the defendant, at the request of the deceased, supplied the deceased with a syringe containing heroin. The deceased proceeded to injected himself with the mixture and died from the effect of the drug shortly afterwards. The defendant’s appeal against his conviction for manslaughter, based on the contention that the deceased has caused his own death by self-injection, was dismissed. The Court of Appeal sought to distinguish the case from Dalby on the basis that the defendant had not simply supplied the drug but had also prepared the syringe and handed it to the deceased. The decision is, with respect, highly questionable. What the deceased did was to deliberately risk his own life – this is not an unlawful act. Hence the defendant could not be said to be assisting or encouraging an unlawful act. 3 In determining whether self-administration of drugs by the deceased is a novus actus interveniens to what extent should the courts take into account the knowledge of the deceased? How should the courts view the self-administration where the deceased is a child, a mental defective, or an adult who has been misled as to the nature of the substance? The victim’s actions in seeking to escape from the defendant
DOI link for Held, upholding the submissions: (1) that if the expert could not be sure that heroin caused the deceased’s death, the jury could not be and (2) that the alternative submission was well-founded. Regard was had to Cato (1976) 62 Cr App R 41 and Dalby (1982) 74 Cr App R 348: the facts proved were closest to Dalby. Notes and queries 1 In R v Dalby [1982] 1 All ER 916, the defendant supplied drugs to the deceased who consumed them with fatal consequences. The Court of Appeal allowed Dalby’s appeal, inter alia, on the ground that the act of supply did not cause ‘direct harm’ to the deceased. This aspect of the decision was subsequently approved by the Court of Appeal in R v Goodfellow (1986) 83 Cr App R 23. For extracts from these cases see further Chapter 15. 2 In R v Kennedy [1999] Crim LR 65 the defendant, at the request of the deceased, supplied the deceased with a syringe containing heroin. The deceased proceeded to injected himself with the mixture and died from the effect of the drug shortly afterwards. The defendant’s appeal against his conviction for manslaughter, based on the contention that the deceased has caused his own death by self-injection, was dismissed. The Court of Appeal sought to distinguish the case from Dalby on the basis that the defendant had not simply supplied the drug but had also prepared the syringe and handed it to the deceased. The decision is, with respect, highly questionable. What the deceased did was to deliberately risk his own life – this is not an unlawful act. Hence the defendant could not be said to be assisting or encouraging an unlawful act. 3 In determining whether self-administration of drugs by the deceased is a novus actus interveniens to what extent should the courts take into account the knowledge of the deceased? How should the courts view the self-administration where the deceased is a child, a mental defective, or an adult who has been misled as to the nature of the substance? The victim’s actions in seeking to escape from the defendant
Held, upholding the submissions: (1) that if the expert could not be sure that heroin caused the deceased’s death, the jury could not be and (2) that the alternative submission was well-founded. Regard was had to Cato (1976) 62 Cr App R 41 and Dalby (1982) 74 Cr App R 348: the facts proved were closest to Dalby. Notes and queries 1 In R v Dalby [1982] 1 All ER 916, the defendant supplied drugs to the deceased who consumed them with fatal consequences. The Court of Appeal allowed Dalby’s appeal, inter alia, on the ground that the act of supply did not cause ‘direct harm’ to the deceased. This aspect of the decision was subsequently approved by the Court of Appeal in R v Goodfellow (1986) 83 Cr App R 23. For extracts from these cases see further Chapter 15. 2 In R v Kennedy [1999] Crim LR 65 the defendant, at the request of the deceased, supplied the deceased with a syringe containing heroin. The deceased proceeded to injected himself with the mixture and died from the effect of the drug shortly afterwards. The defendant’s appeal against his conviction for manslaughter, based on the contention that the deceased has caused his own death by self-injection, was dismissed. The Court of Appeal sought to distinguish the case from Dalby on the basis that the defendant had not simply supplied the drug but had also prepared the syringe and handed it to the deceased. The decision is, with respect, highly questionable. What the deceased did was to deliberately risk his own life – this is not an unlawful act. Hence the defendant could not be said to be assisting or encouraging an unlawful act. 3 In determining whether self-administration of drugs by the deceased is a novus actus interveniens to what extent should the courts take into account the knowledge of the deceased? How should the courts view the self-administration where the deceased is a child, a mental defective, or an adult who has been misled as to the nature of the substance? The victim’s actions in seeking to escape from the defendant
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