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Case studies for DR (Depression = RMC (Seers (Appeal against conviction…
Case studies for DR
Depression = RMC
Seers
Appeal against conviction for wife murder where defence was one of diminished responsibility by reason of chronic reactive depression
Gittens
D attacked and killed his wife with a hammer and then raped and killed his daughter. At the time of the killing he suffered from severe depression. He had consumed a quantity of alcohol and also took some prescription pills whilst his wife was out. On her return he and his wife had a violent argument and he killed her with a hammer. He was convicted on the two counts of murder. ‘Abnormality of the mind’
ADS = RMC
Wood
D was alcoholic who had been sleeping rough. Once he got drunk he was with his friend. During the night he awoke to find the deceased (friend) attempting to perform oral sex on him. He attacked him with a meat cleaver and lump hammer killing him. The trial judge, in his direction to the jury, stated:
"Where a man becomes so drunk that he suffers, temporarily, from an abnormality of mind, he may also be acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility
Stewart
D was a chronic alcoholic sleeping rough in Marble Arch. He killed a man in the course of a fight (due to V breaking a watch given by his aunt - special relationship).
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AMF = D’s mental functioning must be so different from normal that the ordinary person would regard it as abnormal
Byrne
The appellant (defendant) murdered a young girl staying in a YWCA hostel. He then mutilated her body. He did so as he was suffering from irresistible impulses which he was unable to control. Held for ‘abnormality of the mind’
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PTSD = RMC
Blackman
D shot dead a seriously wounded Taliban prisoner in Afghanistan has been quashed and replaced with one of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Marine A during his original court martial. conviction was quashed when the court martial appeal court ruled he had been suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the shooting in 2011
Drinking/drugs is only a RMC if D has ADS. If D has a different RMC jury must discount his drinking and decide if the RMC e.g. depression provides an explanation for his conduct in killing the V
Dietchmann
Facts :The defendant was drunk when he killed the victim. Medics said that he had a “depressed tried reaction”; in other words, he was depressed following the death of his aunt.
BWS = RMC
Ahluwalia
D poured petrol and caustic soda on to her sleeping husband and then set fire to him. He died six days later from his injuries. The couple had an arranged marriage and the husband had been violent and abusive throughout the marriage. At her trial she admitted killing her husband but raised the defence of provocation however, the jury convicted her of murder. She appealed on the grounds that the judge's direction to the jury relating to provocation was wrong and she also raised the defence of diminished responsibility.
Whether or not the D’s ability is substantially impaired is a Q for the jury, if they need help the judge can explain it is “significant or appreciable” impairment, “more than trivial or minimal”
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