Meli v The Queen
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Judgment Date | 1954 |
| Date | 1954 |
| Year | 1954 |
| Court | Privy Council |
Basutoland - Criminal Law - Murder - Erroneous belief of accused that blows caused death - Whether mens rea in respect of their subsequent acts which in fact caused death - Preconceived plot to kill - One inseparable transaction. - Criminal Law.
The appellants, in execution of a preconceived plot to kill the deceased, took him to a hut where he was struck over the head with an instrument, and then, believing him to be dead, they took him out and rolled him over a low cliff and dressed the scene to make it look like an accident. The medical evidence established, however, that the injuries received in the hut were not sufficient to cause the death, which was in fact due to exposure when he was left at the foot of the cliff. The appellants appealed against their conviction for murder, alleging, inter alia, that while the first act — the blows in the hut — was accompanied by mens rea, it was not the cause of death, but that the second act, while it was the cause of death, was not accompanied by mens rea, and contended that in those circumstances they were not guilty of any crime, except perhaps culpable homicide:—
Held, that it was impossible to divide up what was really one transaction in that way. The appellants set out to do all those acts as part of, and to achieve, their plan, and it was much too refined a ground of judgment to say that, because they were under a misapprehension at one stage and thought that their guilty purpose had been achieved before it in fact was, therefore they were not guilty of murder. There was no difference relevant to the present case between the law of South Africa and that of England, and by both laws there could be no separation such as that for which the appellants contended merely because of their misapprehension.
APPEAL (No. 28 of 1953), by special leave in forma pauperis, from a judgment and sentence given and passed in the High Court of Basutoland (Harragin Ag.J.) (March 26, 1953) whereby the four appellants were convicted and sentenced to death upon a charge of having murdered a Mosuto male, one Ntlobiseng Lekhoo. The appellants, who were jointly indicted and jointly tried, had pleaded not guilty to the charge.
It was alleged that the deceased had been brought to a hut...
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R v Le Brun
...[1975] Crim.L.R. 229, C.A. distinguished. The following cases are referred to in the judgment: Meli v. The Queen [1954] 1 W.L.R. 228; [1954] 1 All E.R. 373, Reg. v. Church [1966] 1 Q.B. 59; [1965] 2 W.L.R. 1220; [1965] 2 All E.R. 72, C.C.A. Reg. v. Moore [1975] Crim.L.R. 229, C.A. No additi......
- Royall v R
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R v Boreman
...are closely associated in time and are "part of the same transaction" it seems the conviction is good." [1988] CLR 335 at 342. 22 In Thabo Meli v Regina [1954] 1AER 373 the appellants, in accordance with a pre-conceived plan, took a man to a hut, plied him with drink and then struck him ove......
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R v Church
... ... SeeThabo Meli v. Regina, 1954, 1 All England Reports at page 373. In the present case the Jury, directed as they were, acquitted of murder. They had, however, ... 11 Such a direction is not lacking in authority; see for example Shoukatallie v. The Queen (1962 Appeal Cases, page 81 in Lord Denning's opinion at pages 86 and 92) and Dr. Glanville Williams' Criminal Law, 2nd Edition at page 173 ... ...
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Table of cases
...136 CCC (3d) 11, [1999] OJ No 1506 (CA) .............................................................................. 454 R v Meli, [1954] All ER 373, [1954] 1 WLR 228, 98 Sol J 77 (PC) .............124, 452 R v Mena (1987), 34 CCC (3d) 304, 20 OAC 50, [1987] OJ No 392 (CA) ..........421 R......
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Table of Cases
...(3d) 1, 36 A.P.R. 128, 19 N.R. 570 ............................................................................. 26 Meli v. The Queen, [1954] 1 W.L.R. 228 (P.C.) .................................................. 351 Metropolitan Police Commissioner v. Caldwell (1981), [1982] A.C. 341, [198......
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The Prohibited Act, or Actus Reus
...the requisite intent continue throughout the entire 123 (1968), [1969] 1 QB 439. 124 R v Miller , [1983] 2 AC 161 (HL) [ Miller ]. 125 [1954] 1 WLR 228 (PC) [ Meli ]. 126 [1993] 1 SCR 146. The Prohibited Act, or Actus Reus 125 two minutes required to cause the death of the victim.” 127 Ther......
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The Special Part: Homicide, Sexual, Property, and Terrorism Offences
...of another or to include the 34 R v Simpson (1981), 58 CCC (2d) 122 (Ont CA). 35 (1993), 78 CCC (3d) 289 (SCC) [ Cooper ]. 36 R v Meli , [1954] 1 WLR 228 (PC), cited with approval in Cooper , above note 35 at 297. 37 (1984), 10 CCC (3d) 404 (SCC) [ Droste (No 2) ]. 38 R v Fontaine (2002), 1......