Loss of Control and the ‘Normal’ Person: The Relevance of Self-Induced Intoxication
| Author | Natalie Wortley,Adam Jackson |
| Published date | 01 August 2013 |
| Date | 01 August 2013 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1350/jcla.2013.77.4.851 |
| Subject Matter | Court of Appeal |
Court of Appeal
Loss of Control and the ‘Normal’ Person: the Relevance of
Self-induced Intoxication
R vAsmelash [2013] EWCA Crim 157
Keywords Murder; Loss of control; Voluntary intoxication; Jury
directions
Asmelash (A) was an asylum seeker who had been granted indefinite
leave to remain in the UK. In March 2011 he moved into an upstairs
bedroom of 29 Palm Street in Middlesbrough. The victim (T) was also a
resident at that address and the two became drinking companions.
On 4 April 2011, A and T spent the day drinking alcohol together.
That evening, they were seen arguing with one another. Shortly after
9pm, another resident at 29 Palm Street heard a loud noise. He went
into the lounge where he saw A punching and fighting T. The witness
tried to separate the two men twice. On the second occasion A said, ‘the
knife is already in him’. T fell to the floor and the witness went to seek
help. By the time the police and paramedics arrived, T was already
dead.
A attended the police station as a witness, but was ultimately arrested.
When interviewed he initially denied being present at the time of the
killing, saying that he had gone out for cigarettes and returned to find T
lying on the floor. He subsequently made no comment. However, at trial
A accepted that he had stabbed T. A maintained that T had the knife with
him in the street and that he took it from T to prevent T from using it to
follow an Abyssinian woman, with whom T had been arguing. T had
become angry and began shouting at and abusing A. They returned to 29
Palm Street where T insulted A’s mother and then danced round the
living room pushing his penis towards A’s face. T continued to call A
names and hit him with a beer can. A grabbed the knife intending to
scare T, but T exposed himself and carried on hitting A. A tried to get
away, but T followed him. Eventually, A swung the knife and stabbed T,
who fell to the ground. A claimed that T had made him so angry that he
could not control himself.
The trial judge left the defence of loss of control to the jury. In relation
to the third element of the defence (the ‘normal person test’), he
directed the jury to consider whether ‘a person of [A’s] sex and age with
a normal degree of tolerance and self-restraint and in the same circum-
stances, but unaffected by alcohol, would not have reacted in the same or
similar way’ (emphasis added). The jury convicted A of murder and he
was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15
years.
A appealed against his conviction on the ground that, applying
s. 54(1)(c) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, voluntary intoxication
292 The Journal of Criminal Law (2013) 77 JCL 292–295
doi:10.1350/jcla.2013.77.4.851
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