The defendant appealed a conviction for attempting to cause grievous bodily harm. He had faced trial on a charge of attempted murder, and the judge had left open to the jury the alternative of the offence for which he had been convicted.
Held: The question was one of law, whether a count of attempted murder either expressly or impliedly amounted to or included an allegation of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent. The distinction lay in the mens rea. One offence required an intention to kill, the other an intention to cause grievous bodily harm. Various situations were considered, but the court concluded that there could not be an intention to kill without an intention to cause grievous bodily harm. The alternative would allow a defendant accused of attempt to cause grievous bodily harm, the defence of saying that he had intended to kill.
Judges:
Woolf LCJ, Roderick Evans, Royce. JJ
Citations:
Times 04-Jun-2003, Gazette 10-Jul-2003
Statutes:
Criminal Law Act 1967 6(2) 6(3)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Wilson (Clarence); Regina v Jenkins HL 1983
The court considered the application of the section on alternative verdicts available to juries on a trial for attempted murder. The allegations in a charge under section 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 or under section 9(1)(b) of the . .
Cited – Regina v Adebayo CACD 7-Jul-1997
The defendant had been employed in the probate registry, and sought by deception to conspire with others to use the information he obtained to obtain money from estates. He appealed, saying that the court should not have convicted him of obtaining . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 16 May 2022; Ref: scu.183242