R v Loudon
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1980 |
| Date | 01 January 1980 |
| Court | Court of Criminal Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
Mens rea - Bomb explosion causing death - Accused drove van to premises and left van shouting a warning -Accused convicted of murder - Whether trial judge applied the correct test of malice aforethought - Whether sufficient intent to establish murder.
On the 15th September, 1976, shortly after 4 p.m. the accused drove a van containing a bomb of between 50 and 100 lb in weight into the loading bay of busy city centre premises and shouted a warning that there was a bomb in the van before running off. The premises were evacuated by the 600 people working there but in the confusion that ensued they were mistakenly informed that the bomb was in another building and some employees had returned to the premises when, 7 minutes after it had been left in the loading bay, the bomb exploded, killing an employee. In a written statement the accused admitted being the driver of the van which carried the bomb into the premises but stated that he did not intend to kill or hurt anyone and that the object of leaving the bomb was to damage the premises. The accused was charged (inter alia) with murder and at his trial under the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1973, it was contended on his behalf that as there was no evidence that he positively intended to kill or cause serious bodily harm to anyone the mental element of the offence of murder was not present, unless it was proved beyond a reasonable doubt that, when he undertook his part in the events, he foresaw the high probability of death or serious bodily harm resulting from his actions, and that the evidence did not support the finding of such foresight on his part. The trial judge Held that in cases where the accused did not positively intend to kill or cause serious bodily harm to anyone, the correct test of whether there was sufficient malice aforethought to constitute the offence of murder, was whether it had been proved beyond all reasonable doubt that the accused knew that there was a serious...
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