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Homicide Offences

HOMICIDES


Homicide offences are category of crimes more commonly referred to as murder or manslaughter. Murder is one of the highest category offences, always tried in the Crown Court. If you are found guilty of murder, you could spend your entire life in prison. 

 

 

 

MURDER

The crime of murder has occurred when a person of sound mind unlawfully kills another person, intending to have killed this person or with intention to cause grievous bodily harm. The maximum penalty for murder is life imprisonment.

 

The only complete defence for murder is self-defence. This is where a person has killed someone when defending themselves or another person.

 

 

 

MANSLAUGHTER

Manslaughter is a closely related crime to murder. The difference between murder and manslaughter lays in the mental state of the assailant. There are two types of manslaughter, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter. 

 

 

 

VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER

If a person is charged with an offence of murder, they may rely on partial defences which would lead to them to be convicted of voluntary manslaughter. These partial defences are loss of self-control and diminished responsibility. 

  • Loss of self-control: This occurs when a person loses his self-control and has lost their ability to rationalise properly. This loss of control can be triggered by
  • Diminished responsibility: This occurs where a person suffers from an abnormality of the mind and the person does not suffer a complete disappearance of control. The person will need to show that they suffer from a recognised medical condition such as depression, battered spouse syndrome, depression or schizophrenia.

 

 

INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER

Involuntary manslaughter applies when a person has caused death but did not possess the intention to kill or cause GBH. There are two types of involuntary manslaughter, unlawful act manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter. 

  • Unlawful act manslaughter: This occurs where a person commits a criminal offence that is objectively dangerous, and it leads to a person’s death.
  • Gross negligence manslaughter: This occurs when a person has died resulting from an omission to act.