ABSTRACT
This problem has now been addressed by Parliament. Section 5(1) of the Domestic Violence, Crime & Victims Act 2004, which is discussed more fully in Chapter 10 , created a new offence of causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult. In Ikram and Parveen (2008) EWCA Crim 586; (2008) 4 All ER 253, which is factually very similar to Lane and Lane , the father of a one-year-old boy and the father’s partner were convicted under s 5 after the child suffered a non-accidental broken leg, which caused a fat embolism (when fat enters the bloodstream) with fatal consequences. No one else had had any contact with the child on the fateful day, so one or other of the defendants must have been responsible. However, both defendants claimed not to know how the child’s leg was broken and with no other evidence it would have been extremely diffi cult to convict either defendant of murder or manslaughter. Instead, they were both convicted under s 5 of the 2004 Act.
