Causation in criminal law

Tony, a married man, has been dating his mistress Chantal for over a year, but refuses to leave his wife, Wendy. Chantal is becoming tired of the situation and decides she will take action. One evening, when Tony is away on business, she decides to go to Tony and Wendy’s house and put burning newspapers though the letterbox. She knows that Wendy and her child, Caroline, are sleeping upstairs. Chantal hopes that her actions will scare Wendy into leaving the marital home with Caroline. Unfortunately, as a result of Chantal’s act Wendy and Tony’s house burns to the ground and Wendy and Caroline are killed. Tony returns from his business trip and in his grieving state, becomes convinced that one of his ex-mistresses – Rosie – is responsible for Wendy and Caroline’s death. Tony wishes to avenge their deaths and plans to poison Rosie. He invites her for a romantic dinner, and during the dinner serves Rosie a chocolate mousse laced with poison. On her way home, Rosie starts to feel very unwell and decides to stop at the local accident and emergency department. She is seen by Dr Death, a junior doctor who has been on duty for 24 hours. Rosie is showing obvious signs of being poisoned, but Dr Death doesn’t conduct a proper examination, or any tests, and tells Rosie she simply has a stomach upset and should go home. Rosie dies at home later that evening.

1. Consider Chantal’s mens rea when she posts the burning newspapers. Consider whether her mens rea will make a difference to the offence she is charged with

2. Can Tony be said to have caused Rosie’s death? How would this need to be established?

3. Would your answer to (2) be the same if: a. Rosie had a heart attack (unrelated to the poison) and died before the poison had time to take effect? b. Rosie had a pre-existing heart condition, which Doctors were unable to treat because of the poison, and died before the poison took effect.

This assignment requires you to research mens rea, and demonstrate that you understand the differencesbetween the major mens rea states and the importance of this in determining liability.

Questions 2 and 3 require you to consider causation in criminal law and identify the ‘usual rules’ that apply to determining causation. Ensure your assignment addresses all three questions and use these to help you create a logical structure. It is fine to simply address the three questions – there is no need to create an introduction as you would in an essay. You need to demonstrate you have engaged with key cases and appropriate reading, using this to evidence your answer.