LA1010 May B2

CertHE COMMON LAW

LLB
BSc DEGREES WITH LAW

Criminal law

Tuesday 1 June 2021

BLOCK 2 Available at: 12:00 UK time on Tuesday 1 June 2021.

Submit before: 17:00 UK time on Tuesday 1 June 2021.

You have FIVE HOURS in which to write your answers and upload them in the
required .doc or .docx format to the VLE. You are not expected to spend more
than FOUR HOURS writing your answers. The remaining hour is for
downloading, uploading, and to take short rest breaks.

You must answer the COMPULSORY questions in PART ONE and THREE
from the SIX questions in PART TWO. You must answer all parts of a question
unless otherwise stated.

© University of London 2021

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PART ONE

You must answer these COMPULSORY questions.

1. Adam, having eaten lunch in Batgirls Restaurant, discovers that he has

left his cash at home. When asked for payment by Eve, Adam says that
he does not intend to pay because the food was bad, although in fact he
had found it delicious. Eve, in an attempt to placate Adam, tells Adam
that he does not have to pay and gives him a glass of wine “on the
house”, which he accepts. Adam then orders and consumes a pudding.
When the time comes to pay for the pudding, Adam does so with a
contactless credit card, although he knows that he has exceeded his
credit limit and so does not have his bank’s authority to use the card.

Later that day he enters Belter’s shoe shop to buy some shoes. On
taking a pair of shoes to the cash desk for purchase, Adam notices that
the price tags on each shoe show different amounts. He goes back to
find another shoe to match the lower price but is unsuccessful. He
chooses, therefore, a matching shoe without a price tag on it, intending
to purchase the pair at the lower price. A store detective notices all this
and arrests him before he reaches the cash desk. The police arrive and
he is taken into custody and charged. On his release from the police
station, he returns home to find a car blocking the driveway to his house.
He breaks the window of the car, releases the handbrake and pushes
the car away from his drive.

(a) What offence(s), if any, has Adam committed in the matter of eating
lunch without the funds to pay for it?
(b) Explain your reasoning in relation to (a) above.
(c) If you were the prosecutor, what offence(s), if any, would you charge
in relation to the refusal to pay for the meal?
(d) Explain your reasoning in relation to (c) above.
(e) If you were the prosecutor, what offence(s), if any, would you charge
in relation to the glass of wine?
(f) Explain your reasoning in relation to (e) above.
(g) If you were defence counsel, what argument would you mount in
relation to the charge in (e) above?
(h) If you were the prosecutor, what offence(s), if any, would you charge
in relation to the use of the credit card?
(i) If you were defence counsel, what argument would you mount in
relation to the charge in (h) above?
(j) If you were the prosecutor, what offence(s), if any, would you charge
in the matter of the shoes?
(k) Give reasons for your answer in (j).
(l) If you were the prosecutor, what offence(s), if any, would you charge
in the matter of the car?
(m)If you were defence counsel, what argument would you mount in
relation to the charge in (l) above?

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PART TWO

You must answer THREE questions in this section.

2. In each of the following four scenarios, assuming Jane was the subject
of criminal charges (which you should not specify or discuss), consider
and discuss any defences which may be available to her:

(a) Jane drives Igor, her infant child, to hospital at above the speed limit.
She does so because Igor is dangerously ill with a burst appendix.

(b) Jane, a motorist, is followed on a motorway by a lorry driven too fast

and too close to be able to stop safely in case of emergency. Jane
breaks the speed limit as a means of escaping the danger.

(c) Jane is a passenger on a sinking ship. While attempting to climb a

staircase to safety, she encounters Igor, another passenger, blocking
her way. In a state of terror, Igor is unable to move either forward or
back. Jane pushes Igor down the staircase to his certain death.

(d) Jane and Igor are walking on a cliff path. Igor lunges at Jane for the
purpose of kissing her. Jane pushes Igor so hard that he falls over
the cliff to his death.

3. Explain and discuss the defences of automatism and insanity.

4. ‘The attempt begins when the merely preparatory acts come to an end
and the defendant embarks upon the crime proper. When that is will
depend upon the facts in any particular case.’

Explain and discuss this statement with particular reference to the case
law.

5. Explain and discuss the concept of joint enterprise in the context of

accessoryship, making particular reference to the changes effected by
Jogee and why they were considered necessary.

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6. John and Imran are rivals for Sara’s affections. Sara has been dating
Imran for a year. John tells Imran that he had slept with Sara the previous
night and that Sara had confided to him that Imran was stupid and
dreadful in bed. In a fury, Imran hits John several times over the head
with a fire iron, fracturing his skull and rendering him unconscious. John
is taken to hospital. The doctor on duty mistakes John, who is still
unconscious, for another patient, who is receiving chemotherapy for
cancer. Instead of giving John treatment suitable for his condition, he
administers a dose of chemotherapy. This has a catastrophic effect.
Within minutes John has died. If the dose of chemotherapy had not been
administered John would have survived.

Meanwhile, on the way to visiting Sara later that night, Imran notices
Fred, a member of a rival gang, who is walking down the street. Imran
throws a stone at him. It misses Fred, ricochets off a lamppost, and goes
through the windscreen of a car, driven by Ahmed, causing the car to
mount the pavement and crash into Karin. Both Karin and Ahmed are
seriously injured. Imran does nothing to help Karin and Ahmed, who
later both die of their injuries.

Consider the criminal liability, if any, of Imran.

7. After a late night at work, George’s sleep is disturbed by the sound of a

car crash outside the house. Although still sleeping, George, who has
no history of sleepwalking, gets out of bed and enters his flatmate
Roshana’s bedroom. Roshana screams upon seeing him and struggles
with him, in the course of which George slaps her across the face.
Roshana pushes him out of the door so violently that George trips and
falls downstairs causing him serious bruising and waking him up.

George, groggy from the fall, goes to the kitchen and pours himself a
whisky from a bottle owned by Roshana and uses one of Roshana’s
whisky tumblers. He breaks the tumbler when, having drunk the whisky,
he throws it into the sink.

He then stumbles out of the house. Amara, a police officer, assuming

George to be drunk, tries to stop him and, when George ignores her
request, takes hold of George’s arm. Due to a combination of the whisky
and the fall he is confused as to where he is, and angry that he is being
detained. He punches Amara and then puts his hands around her neck
and squeezes until Amara loses consciousness. When Amara regains
consciousness two hours later she has bloodshot eyes and a broken
jaw.

Discuss any criminal offences which may have been committed and any
defences which may be available thereto.

END OF PAPER

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