Criminal Law:
Word Limit: 2000 words (1000 per answer).
Instructions: Please answer TWO of the FOUR questions provided.
Submissions MUST NOT exceed the maximum word length. Footnotes and bibliography are not included in the word count.
All questions carry equal marks.
Please be sure that in your exam answers any verbatim quotation or close paraphrasing of sources (including the core textbook and lecture transcripts) is properly identified and attributed. Verbatim quotes must be in “……..” with a source and page number attribution (using OSCOLA). Close paraphrasing must be identified with a source and page number attribution. Failing to do so will amount to poor academic practice and may amount to academic misconduct. For further information, see the Undergraduate Students’ Handbook for information on plagiarism.
1. Ben used to be an ardent Reds FC supporter and had their team logo tattooed on his right arm. However Reds FC have performed terribly in the league and received so many red cards that Ben has developed a very deep hatred of the team. It is so bad that he now wants his arm taken off. He approaches his neighbour, Samir, who he knows was a renowned surgeon in his home country although he’s not permitted to work in the UK. Ben invites Samir over to his house and then puts forward the plan. Ben has already sterilised a set of knives and brought clean towels, needles and thread. He says to Samir, ‘take my arm off or I’ll hurt your wife’. In reality Ben actually has no intention to hurt Samir’s wife. Samir hesitates but loves his wife very much so he decides to take a couple of Valium tablets and a shot of whisky to steady his nerves, and proceeds. Samir does a very careful job. At the same time, Ben’s daughter Kylie (16) films the whole procedure, planning to put it FlipFlop, a popular social media app.
Advise Ben, Samir and Kylie.
2. Annie and Dave meet on a dating app. They decide to meet at the Horse & Lamb, a local pub that’s closed because of the pandemic. Here they hope to have some privacy and if there is some beer left in the pub, they plan to drink it. They enter the pub through the back door and make their way to the bar. They don’t find any beer but they do find a couple of bottles of wine, which they decide to drink. Feeling jolly through the wine, they decide to have sex. Dave says to Annie, ‘I want to have sex with you, but only if you’re on the contraceptive pill’. Annie says she is indeed on the pill, and they have sex. In fact, Annie isn’t on the pill but just hopes she will be OK this one time.
Advise Annie and Dave.
3. “The case of R v Gnango [2011] UKSC 59 illustrates the courts’ struggle to maintain a clear separation between principal offender and accomplice.”
Discuss.
4. The cases of Harris [2013] EWCA Crim 223 and Taj [2018] EWCA Crim 1743 muddy the waters of the otherwise clear ‘prior fault’ intoxication rules.
Discuss.
END OF ASSESSMENT
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