involuntary manslaughter (unlawful act manslaughter)
the death must be caused by an unlawful act
dangerous act
it must be an unlawful criminal act- Franklin
if any element of the offence is missing then it is not criminal- lamb
it must be unlawful itself, not something that becomes unlawful- andrews
an omission is not sufficient for UAM- lowe
the offence must be identified by the prosecution- jennings
the act is normally an offence against the person, but it can be any criminal offence (arson- goodfellow, criminal damage- DPP v Newbury and Jones, burglary- r v watson)
the unlawful act must be dangerous on an objective test
in church it was held that 'all sober and reasonable people would inevitably recognise must subject the other person to at least the risk of some harm albeit not serious harm
some harm
if the act is 'likely to injure another person' then it will be sufficient- larkin
the sober and reasonable person does not have to foresee that particular type of harm just some harm, JM and SM
it must be an obvious risk of harm, the sober and reasonable person has the same knowledge as the defendant at the scene- Dawson
the act need not be aimed at the victim, larkin, or even at a person
causing the death
the normal rules of causation apply
if there is a break in the chain then the defendant cannot be liable for unlawful act manslaughter
this caused problems where the defendant supplied the victim with a drug (an unlawful act) but then the victim self injects. this is an act of the victim which breaks the chain (Dalby; kennedy)
if the defendant injects the victim then the chain is not broken and the victim is still liable- cato
mens rea
the mens rea for unlawful act manslaughter is the mens rea for the unlawful act
it is not necessary for the defendant to realise that the act was unlawful or dangerous (DPP v Newbury and Jones)
assault- intentionally or recklessly causing the victim to apprehend immediate unlawful violence
battery- intentionally or recklessly applying unlawful force to the victim
S.47 ABH- mens rea for the assault or battery with occasions of actual bodily harm
S.20 GBH- intentionally or recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm or wounding