Term
Fagan v Metropolitan Police Commissioner (MPC) (1969)
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Definition
Coincidence of actus reus and mens rea
In this case, the defendant accidently stopped his car on a police man's foot. When the police officer asked the defendant to remove the car from his foot he replied with "F*** off, you can wait." Fagan was found guilty as leaving his car on the foot was a continuing act, and the mens rea was formed later on when he refused to move it. |
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Definition
Coincidence of actus reus and mens rea
Defendant attacked woman who mocked his sexual impotence (knocking her out), panicking and wrongly assuming her dead, he threw her unconscious body into a river where she died for real. He argued that all he did wrong was concealing her dead body and that the mens rea for the attack ended when he thought her dead. However, the court held that the mens rea continued even after he thought she was dead, so he was convicted of her drowning. |
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Definition
Transferred malice
Defendant attempted to strike B with a belt, but instead the belt recoiled and injured C. The mens rea he had to harm B was transferred to C.
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Definition
Transferred malice
The defendant pushed over an elderly man he had quarelled with whilst waiting at a post office, causing him to accidently fall on an old woman who later died from her injuries. She was injured as a direct result of his action, the mens rea transferred to her.
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Definition
Transferred malice
Defendant threw stone towards people but missed and smashed a window. Was convicted of criminal damage, but conviction was quashed. His mens rea for an offence against a person can not be transferred to a property offence as they are entirely different offences.
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