Table Of ContentCASES AND MATERIALS ON
CRIMINAL LAW
Fourth Edition
This new edition of Cases and Materials on Criminal Law has been thoroughly updated to
provide a comprehensive selection of key materials drawn from law reports, legislation, Law
Commission consultation papers and reports and Home Office publications.
Clear and highly accessible, this volume is presented in a coherent structure and provides
full coverage of the topics commonly found in the criminal law syllabus. The range of
thoughtfully selected materials and authoritative commentary ensures that this book provides
an essential collection of materials and analysis to stimulate the reader and assist in the study
of this difficult and challenging area of law.
New features include:
• revised text design with clear page layout, headings and boxed and shaded sections to aid
navigation and readability
• chapter introductions to highlight the salient features under discussion
• short chapter table of contents to enable easier navigation
• “Comments and Questions” sections to encourage students to reflect on their reading
• expanded further reading to encourage students to engage further with the subject
• a Companion Website to provide regular updates to the book
This book is an invaluable reference for students on undergraduate or CPE/PG Diploma in
Law criminal law courses, particularly those studying independently or on distance learning
programmes.
Professor Mike Molan, BA, LLM, FHEA, Barrister, is Acting Executive Dean of the
Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences at London South Bank University.
CASES AND MATERIALS ON
CRIMINAL LAW
Fourth Edition
Mike Molan
First edition published 1997 by Cavendish Publishing Limited
Second edition published 2001 by Cavendish Publishing Limited
Third edition published 2005 by Cavendish Publishing Limited
Fourth edition published 2008 by Routledge-Cavendish
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge-Cavendish
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge-Cavendish is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
fourth edition © Molan, Mike T 2008
first edition © Taylor, Alan and Hungerford-Welch, Peter 1997
second edition © Molan, Mike T 2001
third edition © Molan, Mike T 2005
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
informati on storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-88583-X Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0–415–42461–5 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–42461–5 (pbk)
P
REFACE
As with previous editions, this sourcebook seeks to provide a handy set of reference materials
for students studying criminal law on undergraduate or CPE programmes. It does not seek to
provide the more lengthy discourse one might expect from a traditional textbook, but does
provide extended extracts on key topics enabling the reader to gain a better understanding of
the rationale for the development of the law and the policy issues underpinning the leading
cases. Coverage is therefore provided of the mainstream criminal offences through statutory
and case law materials along with a comprehensive selection of key materials drawn from Law
Commission consultation papers and reports, and Home Office publications.
Since the publication of the 3rd edition there have been a number of significant develop-
ments in the field of substantive criminal law and these are reflected in the structure and
content of this new edition. The long awaited reform of the law relating to deception offences
has now come into effect in the shape of the Fraud Act 2006 and this has had the effect of
replacing all the previous deception offences with new offences under the 2006 Act. These
changes are fully reflected in the text.
Recent decisions of note that are extracted and analysed include R v Kennedy (manslaughter
based on supply of heroin); Attorney General for Jersey v Holley (provocation); R v Mark and
R v Willoughby (elements of killing by gross negligence); R v Barnes (consent as a defence
to sporting injuries); Attorney General’s Reference (No 3 of 2004) (accessorial liability) and R v
Hatton (intoxicated mistake in self-defence cases). Consideration is also given to the likely
changes to the law relating to corporate manslaughter, at the time of writing contained in the
Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill currently before Parliament.
Two major law reform publications are extensively extracted and contextualised in this
4th edition: the Law Commission’s report on Murder, Manslaughter and Infanticide (Law
Com No 304) – and the Law Commission’s Report on Inchoate Liability for Assisting and
Encouraging Crime (Law Com 300).
I would like to extend my thanks to staff at Routledge for their support and encouragement
in producing this new edition, and as always love to my ‘pit lane’ crew, Alison, Grace, Joy, Miles
and Parker who is still a mad hound. I have endeavoured to state the law as of 1st February
2007 although some later developments have been incorporated where possible.
Professor Mike Molan
London South Bank University
May 2007
O C
UTLINE ONTENTS
Preface v
Table of Cases xiii
Table of Statutes xxxi
1 Introduction to criminal law: framework and procedures 1
2 Actus reus: the external elements of an offence 54
3 Mens rea: the mental element 72
4 Homicide 145
5 Non-fatal offences against the person 252
6 Sexual offences 323
7 Accessorial liability 358
8 Inchoate offences 426
9 Theft 485
10 The Fraud Act 2006 558
11 Robbery, blackmail, burglary and going equipped 583
12 Criminal damage 610
13 Defences where mens rea is denied 631
14 Defences of compulsion 692
Index 785
D C
ETAILED ONTENTS
Preface v
Table of Cases xiii
Table of Statutes xxxi
1 Introduction to criminal law: framework and procedures 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 What is criminal law? 2
1.3 Sources of criminal law 5
1.4 Interpreting criminal statutes 7
1.5 Classification of offences 7
1.6 The decision to prosecute 9
1.7 Establishing criminal liability – the burden and standard of proof 16
1.8 Criminal appeals 25
1.9 Codification of the criminal law 34
1.10 The impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 on substantive
criminal law 39
2 Actus reus: the external elements of an offence 54
2.1 Terminology 54
2.2 A state of affairs amounting to an actus reus 55
2.3 Codification and law reform proposals 56
2.4 Actus reus must be voluntary 56
2.5 Criminal liability for omissions 57
3 Mens rea: the mental element 72
3.1 Introduction 72
3.2 Mens rea: intention – the background to the current law 72
3.3 Mens rea – recklessness 83
3.4 The significance of mistake 91
3.5 Children and proof of mens rea 96
3.6 Coincidence of actus reus and mens rea 98
3.7 Transferred malice 102
