Criminal Exam 2015 A

THIS PAPER IS NOT TO BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAMINATION HALLS
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON LA1010 ZA
DIPLOMA IN LAW
DIPLOMA IN THE COMMON LAW
LLB
ALL SCHEMES AND ROUTES
BSc DEGREES WITH LAW
Criminal Law
Tuesday 5 May 2015: 10.00 – 13.15
Candidates will have fifteen minutes during which they may read the paper
and make rough notes ONLY in their answer books. They then have the
remaining THREE HOURS in which to answer the questions.
Candidates should answer FOUR of the following EIGHT questions.
Candidates should answer all parts of a question unless otherwise stated.
Permitted materials
Students are permitted to bring into the examination room the following
specified document: one copy of one of the following: Blackstone’s Statutes
on Criminal Law (OUP) or Sweet and Maxwell’s Statute Series: Criminal Law
or Butterworth’s Student Statutes: Criminal Law or Core Statutes on Criminal
Law (Palgrave Macmillan).
© University of London 2015
UL15/0718
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1. Adam and Eve are having an argument. Adam pulls out a gun and
threatens to shoot Eve. Eve tells Adam he is a coward and would not
dare. Without deliberating Adam pulls the trigger. The bullet misses
Eve and hits the wall behind Eve causing the bullet to ricochet and hit
Graham (who is standing six feet away) on the head. Graham falls
down unconscious. Adam runs over to help Graham. He trips as he
does so and falls on top of Graham, killing him.
Discuss.
2. Kimberly recently ended her relationship with Ben, a work colleague.

Ben was very angry about this and decided to ‘teach her a lesson’. He
sent her a number of obscene and abusive messages by email, and
also left similar messages on her answering machine. Owing to this
Kimberly suffered a severe psychological reaction and was absent from
work for three months.
On her return to work, Kimberly saw Ben in a corridor. He was holding

open a heavy glass door and as Kimberly approached he made a
movement which made it appear as if he was about to swing the door
at her. Kimberly jumped back in alarm, fell and broke her arm. Ben now
says that he was only moving the door slightly ‘for a laugh’.
Richard, a colleague, became aware of these incidents. He

approached Ben and told him ‘to pick on somebody your own size’.
They agreed to ‘settle things’ in the boxing ring in the work’s gym. They
fought together one evening and each suffered cuts and bruises.
Advise Ben and Richard as to their potential criminal liability.
3. Compare and contrast the partial defences of loss of self-control and

diminished responsibility.
4. ‘Although core cases of murder and manslaughter may be easy to

distinguish, there exists a substantial grey area where precise
categorisation is difficult. Arguably this would not matter if judges had
a complete sentencing discretion across the range of criminal
homicides. They do not. Such discretion is available only for
manslaughter. With murder however, a life sentence is mandatory.’
Discuss with particular reference to the major points of similarity and

difference between the two offences.
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5. Joey is sexually attracted to his neighbour, Phoebe, whom he
(incorrectly) believes shares his feelings. One evening he invites
Phoebe over to his house for a drink. After Phoebe has entered the
house, Joey locks the front door and puts the key in his pocket. There
have been several burglaries in the area and Joey always does this for
security.
Joey pours Phoebe a drink and secretly slips into it a drug, which
normally has the effect of loosening inhibitions. However, the drug has
a different effect on Phoebe making her paranoid and terrified of Joey.
Joey starts making sexual advances to Phoebe. In her state of
confused paranoia Phoebe thinks that Joey will attack her if she does
not submit. She also thinks she cannot escape because she saw Joey
lock the door. As a result she submits to intercourse with Joey. Joey,
believes, during intercourse, that Phoebe is consenting and that the
drug has merely loosened Phoebe’s inhibitions a little. After the
intercourse Phoebe goes home.
The next morning Phoebe decides to report the matter to the police.
She is furious with Joey and phones him to tell him of her intentions.
Joey is scared and decides he must kill Phoebe before she goes to the
police. He decides to burn down Phoebe’s house which he hopes will
cause her death. He is climbing over the back garden wall, armed with
a can of petrol and matches, when another neighbour sees him and
shouts out. Joey runs away.
Discuss the criminal liability of Joey.
6. (a) Jaycee, a law student, lends Amir his book, ‘Smith on Theft’.
Finding it a touch dull, Amir puts it on a shelf and forgets about
it, as does Jaycee. A few months later Amir discovers the book
again and decides that it is not worth giving it back to Jaycee as
the law course has ended. He determines to sell it at the first
available opportunity but meanwhile leaves it on his shelf. A day
later Jaycee telephones and asks Amir for the book. 'Yes, I've
got it', he says. 'I thought you'd forgotten about it. I was
going to sell it.'
Discuss.
(b) Akande drives into a car park. He gets out of his car to
purchase a car park ticket from the machine. Chichima, who is
leaving the car park, spots him and calls out ‘Hi! Do you want
my ticket? It still has two hours left. I don’t want any payment.’
‘Akande thanks Chichima and takes the ticket. An hour later
Akande arrives back at the car park. Emengo, a friend of
Akande’s, asks Akande if he can have his ticket. Akande replies
“Yes, but I want £1 for it. Emengo pays him and takes the ticket.
Discuss.
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7. ‘The common elements structuring the majority of criminal defences
operate to negate criminal liability by virtue of the fact that the
defendant’s conduct was a “one-off” reaction to a crisis which
manifested no broader antisocial or dangerous disposition.’
Explain and discuss this statement by reference to at least THREE

criminal defences.
8. Explain whether in each of the following scenarios if A is complicit in

the crime of P:
(a) A encourages P to have intercourse with V. Neither he nor P

knows that V is under age. Sexual activity with a minor is a strict
liability offence for which P is liable.
(b) A, a gunsmith, sells a revolver type handgun to P. Although P

has a licence for the gun, A suspects that the licence may be
forged and that the gun may be used for a wrongful purpose
including murder. P does use the gun for this purpose.
(c) P asks A, a gunsmith, for a replica gun which looks ‘as authentic
as possible’. A believes it is to be used to hold up a bank but he
sells P the gun anyway. In fact, P modifies the gun so that it is
capable of firing bullets. He kills V, a counter assistant in a
bank, with it.
(d) A, who does not like V, tells P, his friend, that V deserves a good
beating and asks him to effect it. P goes round to V’s house and
shoots him dead.
END OF PAPER
UL15/0718
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THIS PAPER IS NOT TO BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAMINATION HALLS

UNIVERSITY OF LONDON LA1010 ZA

ALL SCHEMES AND ROUTES

BSc DEGREES WITH LAW

Tuesday 5 May 2015: 10.00 – 13.15

Candidates should answer FOUR of the following EIGHT questions.

Candidates should answer all parts of a question unless otherwise stated.

© University of London 2015

2. Kimberly recently ended her relationship with Ben, a work colleague.

On her return to work, Kimberly saw Ben in a corridor. He was holding

Richard, a colleague, became aware of these incidents. He

Advise Ben and Richard as to their potential criminal liability.

3. Compare and contrast the partial defences of loss of self-control and

4. ‘Although core cases of murder and manslaughter may be easy to

Discuss with particular reference to the major points of similarity and

Discuss the criminal liability of Joey.

Explain and discuss this statement by reference to at least THREE

8. Explain whether in each of the following scenarios if A is complicit in

(a) A encourages P to have intercourse with V. Neither he nor P

(b) A, a gunsmith, sells a revolver type handgun to P. Although P

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