1. In the Arji Bhaji restaurant, Ken orders a vegetarian curry and tells Fred, the waiter, that he has a severe allergy to some nuts. Fred enters the kitchen and calls the order out to Ajay, the chef. A few moments later, Fred remembers Ken’s allergy and returns to the kitchen to tell Ajay. Ajay, busy chopping vegetables, does not hear Fred’s instruction and adds ground almonds to Ken’s curry. Ken suffers severe anaphylactic shock after eating the curry and, despite the best efforts of the ambulance crew called to the scene, Ken dies.
Ajay was fired on the spot from his job as a chef. On being fired, he went to the Karma Bar next door and drank several pints of beer. He started shouting loudly to anyone that would listen about the unfairness of his job loss. As a result, he was asked by, Toff, the security guard, to leave. He began arguing with Toff who replied to him, “I’m only doing my job mate. Just like you were when you poisoned that poor man next door.” Ajay, in fury, then broke a beer bottle and stabbed Toff in the face. A glass shard hit Toff in the eye and he was left permanently blinded. Unable to cope with this permanent disability and life without his job at the bar, Toff sank into a very deep depression and six months later died by suicide.
DeeAnn, Toff’s wife, distraught at Toff’s untimely death, wanted to teach
Ajay a lesson. She hired a local thug called Clint, to set fire to Ajay’s car. She instructed him to pour petrol over it late at night while it was parked outside Ajay’s house. Clint followed her instructions. He noticed someone, on the back seat of the car but proceeded to set fire to it anyway. Sookh, Ajay’s lodger, had locked himself out that night, and was sleeping in the back of the car. Sookh was killed in the fire.
(a) As a prosecutor what charge, if any, would you bring against Ajay for the death of Ken? (b) Give reasons for your answer in (a). (c) As Ajay’s defence counsel, what would you argue in defence of the charge in (a)? (d) As a prosecutor, what charge, if any, would you bring against Ajay for the death of Toff? (e) Give reasons for your answer in (d). (f) As Ajay’s defence counsel, what would you argue in defence of the charge in (d)? (g) As a prosecutor, what would you argue to counter this defence? (h) As a prosecutor, with what offence, if any, would you charge Clint in relation to Sookh’s death? (i) Give reasons for your answer in (h). (j) As a prosecutor, how would you charge DeeAnn in relation to Sookh’s death? (k) As DeeAnn’s defence counsel, what would you argue in defence of the charge in (j) above? (l) If you were a prosecutor, how would you respond to the defendant’s arguments in (k) above? UL22/0862 Page 2 of 5 PART TWO
You must answer THREE questions in this section.
2. Critically evaluate the law on attempt liability. How satisfactory, if at all,
do you find current principles?
3. In each one of the following scenarios, discuss whether Barry, Mikki and Freda could be liable for an offence under the Fraud Act 2007. (DO NOT discuss offences under the Theft Act 1968.):
(a) Barry arrives at the train station on his way home from work to find large queues in front of the ticket machines. He decides to buy his ticket on the train. When Duffy, the ticket inspector, asks him to pay Barry discovers that he has no money in his wallet and so he uses his credit card, despite the fact that he had received a letter from the bank that morning telling him not to use the card as he had exceeded his credit limit.
(b) Barry, on the same commuter train, visits the bathroom. He finds a £50 note on the floor, picks it up and puts it in his wallet before returning to his seat. As he leaves the bathroom, a passenger waiting outside the bathroom tells him that he used the bathroom a few minutes ago and thinks a £50 note dropped out of his pocket. Barry allows the passenger in to inspect the floor where there is no £50 note to be found.
(c) Another passenger on the train, Mikki, does not have a valid ticket for his journey. When he sees the ticket inspector enter his carriage and start checking tickets, he walks into the next carriage where he sees the buffet counter is unattended. He stands behind the buffet counter, intending to wait there until the ticket inspector goes past. A customer comes along and asks for a chocolate bar. Mikki hands over the chocolate bar and puts the money paid by the customer in the till. He then leaves once the ticket inspector has walked past him.
(d) Freda is at the station trying to buy a ticket to travel home. She approaches an automated ticket machine and requests a ticket but the machine rejects her credit card as she has exceeded her credit limit. She therefore makes a new transaction by requesting a much cheaper ticket which does not cover her entire journey. She pays for the ticket using the contactless facility on her credit card. She then boards the train but travels the full journey to her originally intended destination.
UL22/0862 Page 3 of 5 4. Discuss the mens rea of Chad in relation to homicide (murder, reckless manslaughter, or gross negligence manslaughter) in EACH of the following scenarios. (You are NOT required to discuss the actus reus of homicide or any defences.):
Chad is trying to draw attention to the plight of animals used in
laboratories for the testing of cosmetic products.
(a) Chad plants a bomb in a cosmetics store. He times the bomb to
explode at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. The bomb explodes and 25 customers and staff are killed;
(b) Chad plants a fake bomb in a department store. He emails the store manager a warning at 12pm on the day stating that there is a bomb on the premises timed to explode at 3pm. The warning is relayed to staff and customers who evacuate the premises, but Harry dies when he is crushed in the ensuing panic to leave the store;
(c) Chad plants a real bomb at a cosmetics factory, timed to explode at
3pm on a Friday afternoon. He sends an email to the factory manager at 12pm warning them about the bomb. The factory is evacuated of all people except for a cleaner who is wearing headphones playing music and does not hear the evacuation alarm. The cleaner is killed in the ensuing explosion; and
(d) Chad plants a real bomb in an open market timed to explode at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. He sends the police a warning about the bomb at 2pm and the entire market area is evacuated before the bomb is due to explode. However, Doug, a bomb disposal expert, is killed when trying to defuse the bomb as he had insufficient time. He arrived at 2.50pm.
5. Sonny and Cher share a flat. One night, Sonny finds Cher kissing his friend, Jim. Sonny, in fury, says to Cher, “I’m going to punch you, you whore!” He runs towards her with his fist raised. Cher runs out of the room to the staircase where she stumbles and falls down the stairs. She is knocked unconscious for a few seconds and suffers a deep cut to her arm. Jim, meanwhile, challenges Sonny to a fight. Sonny agrees. Both Sonny and Jim land blows resulting in bruises. They then resolve their differences and stop fighting. Cher is very disappointed that Sonny does so little to support her. Later that evening, when Sonny is sleeping, Cher gets a pair of scissors and cuts off Sonny’s moustache.
Discuss the potential criminal liability of Sonny, Cher, and Jim for the above incidents.
6. Explain, discuss and evaluate the procedure for establishing absence of
consent for the purpose of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
UL22/0862 Page 4 of 5 7. ‘The doctrine of secondary party liability has developed haphazardly and is permeated with uncertainty.’ (Law Commission Report, Participating in Crime (2007).)
