The accused was said to have stabbed the deceased while in the act of breaking into a public house with intent to steal from it. There was evidence that he was attempting to break in and steal when the fatal struggle took place.
Held: There were two separate offences and a separate criminal purpose to which the killing was ancillary: the housebreaking with intent to steal, and the killing which was said to have been done in the course or furtherance of the stealing.The directions to the jury concentrated on the need for them to be satisfied that the accused was in the course of the theft when he did the killing.
Judges:
Lord Sorn
Citations:
1958 SLT 167
Jurisdiction:
Scotland
Cited by:
Cited – Evon Smith v The Queen PC 14-Nov-2005
PC (Jamaica) The Board was asked whether the offence was a capital murder. The murder was committed in the course of a burglary. The defendant had stood on a ladder and reached in through a window and attacked . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 27 November 2022; Ref: scu.237282