General Criminal Defences Trivia Quiz

Answer: 10

Doli Incapax, meaning not capable of a crime, accompanies the defence of infancy when anybody under the age of 10 cannot be found guilty of a crime. Even if there is evidence of an actus reas and mens rea, a child under the age of 10 will not be found guilty, according to the Children and Young Persons Act 1963. Section 31 of the Children Act 1989, however, states that although the child may not be convicted of the crime, they may be sent to a community home which may be regarded as punishment.

Answer: Insanity

Under the Mental Health Act 1983 the defendant will be brought to trial when they are fit to do so, if they have been deemed as unfit by the home secretary. The defence of insanity must be supported by two medical officers and is likely to result in detainment. Section 4 of the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964 bases this decision of whether the defendant understands the charge(s) against them, understands the difference between guilty and not guilty, their ability to follow evidence and their ability to challenge the jury.

Answer: Automatism

Automatism is when the defendant committed the act because of an involuntary action which they had no control over. Examples of acceptable involuntary actions are a reflex action, such as sneezing, a blackout and sleepwalking. There will be no defence if the defendant was able to take reasonable steps to prevent the involuntary action (for example does not take the required medication). Cases that are useful when describing automatism are R v Bailey (1983) when the defendant had diabetes, and R v Quick (1973) when a nurse suffering from hypoglycaemia committed ABH on a severely disabled patient.

Answer: Mistake

When mistake is used, the defence doesn't have to be reasonable but does need to be honest. An example of when mistake could be used if somebody takes another person's coat because it is identical to their own. In R v Williams (1984) the defendant saw the victim dragging a youth along the pavement and hitting him.

The defendant genuinely believed that the youth was being assaulted when they were actually being arrested. Ignorance is not a reasonable defence and thinking the victim said yes when they said no in cases concerning rape is not classed as mistake.

Answer: duress

Duress by threats is a defence used when the defendant was forced to commit a criminal act due to the threat or use of violence against them. This threat has to be of an extreme nature, such as a threat of death or serious harm against the defendant or their immediate family.

The leading case for this is AG v Whelan (1934). There is also a defence of duress by circumstance (or necessity), the key case for this being R v Willer (1986).

Answer: self defence

Self defence is usually used for offences against the person, although it can be used for any criminal offence. It can be used if the action was to prevent an attack on themselves, to prevent an attack on another person, and/or to prevent a crime from being committed. R v Martin shows this defence, when a farmer heard the sound of intruders and shot into the dark.

He shot a teenager in the back and killed him. He lived on a secluded farm and had had numerous break-ins in the past.

Answer: 1967

The Criminal Law Act 1967, under section 3, states that any force used by the defendant for self defence has to be 'reasonable in the circumstances'. For example, if the defendant was pushed by the victim, he cannot turn around with a gun and shoot them.

Answer: Transferred malice

R v Latimer (1886) demonstrates how transferred malice can be used in conjunction with mistake. Another example of transferred malice could be that the defendant went to shoot the victim dead but only injured him instead. Due to this injury, the defendant died due to another cause. If the defendant can still be directly linked to the death, they can be found guilty.

Answer: intoxication

Intoxication is not particularly a defence but can show how there was an absence of a mens rea (or specific intent). Intoxication is basically a state of mind which can be obtained by the use of substances like drugs or alcohol.

Answer: Marital coercion

Marital coercion is a limited defence to use and cannot be used for murder. The wife must show that she committed the offence in the presence of her husband and that he coerced her into doing so.