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Is D guilty? (Breaking chain of causation (Act of victim (The defendant is…
Is D guilty?
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Did D’s actions result in the Consequence for the victim?(If their conduct is removed, does the consequence still happen?)
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An example of a case where there was no factual causation is in R v White where the defendant put poison into the drink of the victim, his mother, with the intention of killing her. The victim drank a few sips of the drink and then fell asleep. She did not wake up, however the medical evidence was that she had died of a heart attack rather than as a result of the poison. The defendant also gave evidence that he had not intended to kill her by a single dose but had planned to deliver multiple doses over a longer period of time. However the defendant WAS convicted of attempted murder rather than murder as he actions didn't cause his mother's death.
An example of a case where there was legal causation is R v Kimsey(1996) when D was having a race with her friend when she lost control of her car and crashed into V. V died from the injuries she sustained during the crash.The defendant was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.The Jury were directed that D’s driving didn’t have to be the main cause of V’s death as long as they believed that it was a cause and it had more than a slight or trifling link to the death. D appealed this however it was upheld by The Court of Appeal
An example of a case where there was no legal causation is R v Hughes. D was driving faultlessly down a road. Suddenly V came around a corner while being under the influence of heroin. He was driving all over the place and crashed into D’s camper van and died.The defendant was not guilty because…the victim was under the influence of heroin and if he hadn’t have been under the influence of heroin he wouldn’t have crashed into D’s camper van.
The defendant’s actions can be said to have been a ‘cause’ in the ‘but for’ sense (“but for the conduct of the defendant, the victim would not have suffered harm”) - so there was factual causation. However, there was no legal causation, because… his conduct wasn’t a sufficient cause of V’s death.