ABSTRACT
Recklessness is a word in everyday use in the English language. When we use the word ‘reckless’ we probably do not analyse carefully what we mean by its use. For the most part it conveys something that we might also be happy to call dangerous, or very careless or even anti-social. We are not being that precise. We read of reckless tackles in football matches; of reckless statements in the press; of reckless drinking in Ibiza, etc. To the law student, however, the words ‘reckless’, ‘recklessly’ and ‘recklessness’ take on a new and special significance. To discover why this should be, one must begin by realising that the word ‘reckless’ to the lawyer is not a general description of someone or their behaviour. It is a word which refers to a very particular state of mind. It is, indeed, one of those mens rea words referred to in Chapter 1.
