Comment
| Date | 01 November 1985 |
| Published date | 01 November 1985 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201838504900404 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
COMMENT
MURDER: FORESIGHT AND INTENTION RECONSIDERED
In R. vMoloney (1985) 2
W.L.R.
648, the House of Lords has
considered afresh the relevance of foresight for the purposes of
establishing
"intent"
for the crime of murder. As a result, it seems
clear that the crime has been brought back into the mainstream of
judicial authority in respect of the role of foresight in crimes of
"specific intent".
The
leading judgment, given by Lord Bridge, sets out new
guidelines found by their lordships to be necessary in the light of R.
v. Hyam (1975)
A.C.
55.
There,
according to Lord Bridge (at p. 664)
"the
differences of
opinion to be found in the five speeches
...
caused some confusion
in
the
law in an area where
...
clarity and simplicity are
...
of
paramount
importance".
The
defendant, a young soldier, was convicted at Birmingham
Crown Court of the murder of his stepfather. Evidence suggested
that he had a happy, loving relationship with his stepfather.
After
a
family party, the pair had sat, drinking, late into the night.
According to the defendant, the stepfather had claimed that he
could
"outshoot",
"outload"
and
"outdraw"
his stepson and
requested the defendant to collect two shotguns. Later, the
stepfather chided the
other
to the effect that he had not
"the
guts"
to fire.
The
defendant fired from a distance of about six feet and the
other
was fatally wounded. In his signed statement, Moloney
denied that he aimed the gun and added that he had not realised
what he was doing.
Indeed,
the evidence suggested that the defendant had been
much the worse for drink. Almost two hours after the shot was
fired, the defendant's co-ordination was found to be poor and the
blood sample, taken at that time, later revealed 157 milligrams of
alcohol to have been present in 100 millilitres of blood (which is, as
Lord Bridge observed "almost twice the permitted limit of alcohol
in the blood above which it becomes an offence to drive a
motor
353
To continue reading
Request your trial