“Susie grabbed a knife which had been left on the table, and intending to cause Pete serious harm, stabbed him. Susies attack was not immediately fatal, Pete was treated, but, while in hospital, the wound became infected and did not respond to medication. Pete died of septicemia. Advise Susie on Murder ONLY.”

Susies murder of Pete

Susie could be charged with the offence of murder. Murder is defined by Coke CJ as the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.  Therefore, murder comprises of two elements: (1) Actus Reus  the act, and (2) Mens Rea  the intention.

Susie had caused the death of a human being (Pete). The positive act in this case is the stabbing caused by Susie. Factual causation and legal causation need to be satisfied in order to establish the Actus Reus and causation.

The test used in factual causation is the but-for-test. The jury need to consider but for Susies stabbing, would Pete die? In R v White, the defendant (hereinafter refer to D) put poison into the victims drink. The victim (hereinafter refer to V) died of heart attack after having a few sips. The medical evidence showed that the poison was irrelevant to the heart attack. B…(short extract)