Case Summaries
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R v Mowatt
Example case summary. Last modified: June 28, 2019
The defendant and a friend were out late at night, and came across the victim, at which point the defendant knocked the victim……
R v Elbekkay
Example case summary. Last modified: July 3, 2019
The appellant had been out for the evening drinking with the victim and her boyfriend. They returned to the victim’s flat and the victim retired to bed……
R v Howe – 1987
Example case summary. Last modified: October 1, 2021
In the first case, the two appellants, Howe and Bannister, and the victim were driven by M to an isolated area, where they assaulted the victim and M killed him. Similarly, the three jointly strangled another victim and a third victim managed to escape….
R v Jones – 1987
Example case summary. Last modified: July 13, 2019
There were six appellants to the appeal a conviction under s 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861. All had pleaded guilty to at least two……
R v Saik – 2006
Example case summary. Last modified: July 4, 2019
The defendant, Saik, operated a bureau de change near Marble Arch in London. Saik changed money that had been gained as proceeds of crime into……
R v Marangwanda
Example case summary. Last modified: June 28, 2019
The defendant was responsible for assisting in caring for two young children, as he was engaged in a romantic relationship……
R v Quayle
Example case summary. Last modified: June 28, 2019
The appellants appealed against convictions for the cultivation, production and possession of cannabis and cannabis resin….
R v Fiak – 2005
Example case summary. Last modified: July 4, 2019
Fiak had been sitting in a car, parked outside his house, when he was approached by police officers who had suspected he was in……
R v Bailey – 1983
Example case summary. Last modified: October 1, 2021
Self-induced automatism defence unavailable to diabetic convicted of wounding with intent. The appellant (B) was convicted of wounding with intent. He claimed the defence of automatism caused by hypoglaecemia as a result of failing to take food after a dose of insulin….
R v Kimsey – 1996
Example case summary. Last modified: October 5, 2021
Kimsey (K) and Osbourne (O) were driving at high speeds in extremely close convoy. Whilst doing so, there was an accident in which O’s car clipped a verge and span out of control, collided with the side of K’s car and went into the path of oncoming traffic….
R v Page – 1954
Example case summary. Last modified: June 27, 2019
A British soldier, Harry Richard Page (HRP), killed an Egyptian national in Egypt and was convicted of murder of an Egyptian……
R v Dalloway 1847
Example case summary. Last modified: October 28, 2021
Dalloway was standing on a horse and cart as it drove along a public road. Dalloway was not holding on to the reins as they were resting on the horse’s back. During his journey, a small child ran out in to the road in front of the cart and was killed by one of the wheels as it moved along….
R v Miller [1983] 2 AC 161
Example case summary. Last modified: September 28, 2021
The court concluded that as he was responsible for having created the dangerous situation, the defendant was under a duty to take action to resolve it once he became aware of the fire….
R v Smith – 2011
Example case summary. Last modified: October 5, 2021
S, P and H challenged their conviction on the basis that the alleged offence was not known to the law because the heroin in question was unlawfully in the possession of the victim….
R v Morris – 1983
Example case summary. Last modified: October 4, 2021
The defendants were convicted of theft under s.1 of the Theft Act 1968 after switching the labels on products in a supermarket to obtain a lower price. One of the defendants was caught before he paid, while the other was only caught afterwards….
R v Donovan
Example case summary. Last modified: September 30, 2021
It was established at trial that the appellant, Mr Donovan, had ‘induced’ the victim to accompany him to his garage, wherein he had proceeded to beat her with a cane in ‘circumstances of indecency’…
R v Misra and Srivastava
Example case summary. Last modified: July 5, 2019
Two doctors were convicted of gross negligence manslaughters when their post-operative patient became infected with a staphylococcus aureus……
R v Nedrick – 1986
Example case summary. Last modified: September 30, 2021
The defendant Nedrick held a grudge against a woman. In the middle of the night he drove to her house before pouring petrol through her letter box and igniting it. The defendant, without warning anyone in the house then drove home….
R v Coates
Example case summary. Last modified: July 3, 2019
The defendant was a senior naval rating at the time of the incident and the complainant was a naval medical assistant, both working aboard a ship….
R v Prince – 1875
Example case summary. Last modified: September 28, 2021
Where a statute is silent as to the mens rea for an offence, the court is not bound to read a mens rea requirement into the statute. The offence was one of strict liability as to age, therefore a mens rea of knowledge of the girl’s actual age was not required to establish the offence. …
R v Clarkson; R v Carroll; R v Dodd
Example case summary. Last modified: June 28, 2019
The defendants were drinking when they heard sounds indicating that a woman was being raped. They entered the room where the sounds……
R v McNaughten – M’Naghten
Example case summary. Last modified: October 6, 2021
M'Naughten murder and pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity. In January 1843, at the parish of Saint Martin, Middlesex, Daniel M’Naghten took a pistol and shot Edward Drummond, who he believed to the British Prime Minister Robert Pell, wounding him fatally….
R v Hall – 1973
Example case summary. Last modified: July 5, 2019
The defendant travel agent received deposit monies from various clients to pay for flights to the United States. He paid the monies……
R v Brown – 1985
Example case summary. Last modified: March 13, 2026
The defendant, Brown, broke a shop window and stuck the top half of his body through the hole while rummaging about inside the shop in order to steal the contents. His lower half remained outside the shop….
R v Hudson and Taylor
Example case summary. Last modified: June 27, 2019
Hudson and Taylor were two girls who were charged with perjury having given false evidence by failing to identify an individual……
R v Ryan – 1996
Example case summary. Last modified: October 5, 2021
The defendant, Ryan, was discovered in the early hours of the morning stuck inside the window of an elderly person’s house and had to be removed by the fire brigade. He had managed only to get his head and one arm inside the window….
R v Bowen – 1996
Example case summary. Last modified: July 5, 2019
Bowen had obtained a number of electrical goods, over a series of visits to the value of £20,000. He had done so by applying for a number of ‘instant……
R v Hennigan
Example case summary. Last modified: July 4, 2019
Hennigan drove at eighty miles per hour and hit the side of a car, driven by Lowe, who was emerging from a turning in a road….
R v Bourne – 1952
Example case summary. Last modified: June 27, 2019
Sydney Joseph Bourne (B) subjected his wife Adelaide Bourne (A) to bestiality by terrorising her into submission against her……
R v Shepherd – 1862
Example case summary. Last modified: July 4, 2019
The defendant was the mother of an eighteen year old girl who had died as a result of complications during childbirth. After going into labour……
R v Bounekhla
Example case summary. Last modified: July 5, 2019
The defendant was convicted of three counts of sexual assault after he deliberately and surreptitiously ejaculated on women while dancing……
R v Lewis
Example case summary. Last modified: July 5, 2019
John Lewis (J), a French-American seaman, injured a German man (G) on board an American ship on the high seas. G died in hospital……
R v Geddes – 1996
Example case summary. Last modified: July 4, 2019
Gary William Geddes (G), 29, was discovered in the toilets of a school to which he had no connection, with a rucksack. When leaving the school……
R v Franklin – 1883
Example case summary. Last modified: October 28, 2021
Mr Franklin took up a larger box from Brighton Pier and threw it into the sea. The victim was swimming underneath in the sea at the time and was struck by the box and died….
R v Rimmington – 2006
Example case summary. Last modified: June 27, 2019
Rimmington, the defendant, sent 538 separate postal packages to individuals. These were of a crude, racist and obscene nature……
R v Secretary of State for Wales
Example case summary. Last modified: July 4, 2019
The appellant was the owner of a Grade II listed building which was subject to a notice of removal in respect of a carillon……
R v Latimer – 1886
Example case summary. Last modified: October 28, 2021
Doctrine of Transferred Malice. The defendant was in an argument with another in a pub. The argument escalated and the defendant attempted to hit the other man with his belt, but missed….
R v Tabassum – 2000
Example case summary. Last modified: June 27, 2019
The appellant had deceived a number of women into participating in what was claimed to be a breast cancer survey, for the purposes of helping……
R v Gotts – 1982
Example case summary. Last modified: October 5, 2021
Gotts, a sixteen-year-old boy, tried to kill his mother as he claimed that his father had threatened to shoot him unless he did so. Gotts stabbed his mother and caused serious injuries from which she survived….
R v Hall – 1985
Example case summary. Last modified: July 5, 2019
The defendant, Hall, was accused of handling stolen property. He denied knowing that it was stolen, stating only that he was suspicious of the property……
R v Slingsby – 1995
Example case summary. Last modified: October 28, 2021
The defendant, Simon Slingsby, penetrated the complainant’s vagina and rectum with his fingers, accidentally cutting her with the signet ring he was wearing. The complainant did not notice the internal cuts, which later became infected, causing the complainant to develop septicaemia and die….
R v Ireland – 1998
Example case summary. Last modified: October 1, 2021
Can silence suffice for a charge of assault and is psychiatric harm sufficient for ABH. The Defendant in this case consistently called three separate women over the course of three months….
R v Stewart [2009] 1 WLR 2507 Case Summary
Example case summary. Last modified: July 5, 2019
Case Summary of R v Stewart [2009] 1 WLR 2507. Issues surrounding intoxication as a defence…
R v Quick [1973] QB 910
Example case summary. Last modified: October 28, 2021
The appellant (a nurse at a hospital) was a diabetic who suffered from hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar). He had taken insulin in the morning for his condition but had not eaten much during the day and had imbibed alcohol….
R v Horncastle and Others 2009
Example case summary. Last modified: September 6, 2021
Case Summary of R v Horncastle and others [2009] UKSC 14 (SC). Hearsay evidence and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). R v Horncastle and others was an English legal case concerning the rules on hearsay evidence….
R v Calhaem
Example case summary. Last modified: June 28, 2019
The defendant was convicted of murder under s.8 of the Accessories and Abettors Act 1861. She had counselled Z to murder the victim….
R v Inglis
Example case summary. Last modified: October 6, 2021
Murder – Mercy killing as a mitigating factor for sentencing under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 Schedule 21. The appellant, Frances Inglis (F), was convicted of murdering her son Thomas (T). T was in a vegetative state due to serious head injuries….
R v Clouden – 1987
Example case summary. Last modified: October 5, 2021
The defendant approached the victim from behind whilst she was carrying a shopping basket in her left hand. He wrenched the basket down from her grasp and ran off with it….
R v Sharp (David Bruce) – 1987
Example case summary. Last modified: June 27, 2019
Sharp joined a gang of robbers that he knew possessed and used firearms. He participated in a robbery of a post office, in which the leader……
R v Flattery – 1877
Example case summary. Last modified: October 22, 2021
The defendant, John Flattery (JF) posed as a medical doctor and surgeon. The complainant, a young woman aged 19, consulted JF with respect to an illness she was suffering, accompanied by her mother….
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