The accused had pleaded guilty to infanticide despite advice by her lawyers that she may have had a good defence. She had subsequently died of cancer. Evidence now suggested that she may not have been fit to plead, and the Criminal Cases Review Commission referred the case, saying that a conviction for infanticide could only lie if in addition to the elements within the section, all the elements of murder were also present.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘The mens rea for the offence of infanticide is contained . . explicitly in the first few words of section 1(1), namely the prosecution must prove that the defendant acted or omitted to act wilfully. There is no reference to any intention to kill or cause serious bodily harm . . It is from the word ‘wilful’ that one derives the necessary mens rea for the offence of infanticide. As to the meaning of the phrase ‘notwithstanding that the circumstances were such that but for this Act the offence would have amounted to murder’, to suggest as the CCRC and Mr Webster suggested that this means ‘notwithstanding and provided that’ is to strain the English language. We take the word ‘notwithstanding’ to mean what the Oxford English dictionary says that it means when used as a preposition. It means ‘despite the fact’ or ‘even if’. It does not mean ‘provided that’.’
Judges:
Hallett LJ, Silber, Wilkie JJ
Citations:
[2007] EWCA Crim 2789
Links:
Statutes:
Crime
Updated: 13 July 2022; Ref: scu.264504
