Criminal Law 2008 Zone A Paper

THIS PAPER IS NOT TO BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAMINATION HALLS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

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DIPLOMA IN LAW LLB EXAMINATION for External Students

INTERMEDIATE EXAMINATION (Scheme A) FIRST AND SECOND YEAR EXAMINATIONS (Scheme B) GRADUATE ENTRY LEVEL I (Route A) GRADUATE ENTRY FIRST YEAR (Route B)

BSc DEGREES for External Students MANAGEMENT WITH LAW, LAW WITH MANAGEMENT, ACCOUNTING WITH LAW AND LAW WITH ACCOUNTING FOR STUDENTS IN THE EXTERNAL PROGRAMME

Criminal Law Wednesday 21 May 2008 : 10.00 – 1.15 pm

Candidates will have fifteen minutes during which they may read the paper and make rough notes ONLY in their answer books. They then have the remaining THREE HOURS in which to answer the question.

Candidates should answer FOUR of the following EIGHT questions.

Candidates should answer all parts of a question unless otherwise stated.

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1.

"…intention' cannot be satisfactorily defined and does not need a definition since everybody knows what it means." (Glanville Williams) Discuss.

2.

How does the defence of consent apply in cases involving non-fatal offences against the person? Discuss whether you think the law in this area is satisfactory. (Do not consider sexual offences.)

3.

Sadie belongs to a criminal organisation which deals in stolen works of art. She asked Barney, who she knew had previous convictions for theft and violence, to obtain a valuable statue from a local museum. She offered to pay Barney £5,000 on receipt of the statue. Barney, who was trying to stay out of trouble, refused at first but agreed when Sadie pointed out that she knew some very violent people who could probably be persuaded to do something not very nice to Barney's two little children. Barney entered the museum just before it closed for the night. He hid in the cloakroom until the museum closed whereupon he emerged into the main exhibition hall. He then disabled the alarm system and took the statue. As he was leaving the exhibition hall, he was confronted by Cedric and Darren, the security guards. Barney immediately hit each of them with the statue. He hit Cedric over the head knocking him unconscious and hit Darren several times in the face. Darren's nose and jaw were broken and Darren fell to the ground unconscious. Barney then made his escape. Consider the possible criminal liability of Sadie and Barney.

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4.

As Dipak, aged 19, had, for some time, been spending more than he was earning, his bank cancelled his overdraft facility and asked him to return his credit card to them. Dipak then applied for a loan from a building society, stating on the application form that he was in good financial standing with his own bank. The building society insisted that their borrowers take out a life insurance policy so Dipak agreed to do so. He filled in the application form falsely stating that he was a non-smoker. He then went to a restaurant and had a meal for which he paid with his credit card, following which he decided to go to a strip club. The club required its clients to be 21 or over and Dipak assured them be was 21 before paying the entry fee in cash. The following day he heard from the building society which had checked with his bank and refused him the loan. As he was now in serious financial trouble, he decided that desperate measures were necessary. He sent an email to a number of people, making it look as though it came from a bank. The email requested a number of personal account details stating that the reason for the request was to increase banking security. Nobody complied with the request. Discuss the possible criminal liability of Dipak.

5.

(a)

When is an assault 'sexual' for the purposes of the Sexual Offences Act 2003?

(b)

While in a pub, Bertie noticed Cathie who was sitting by herself. He went over to talk to her and offered her a lift home. Cathie accepted readily as she had had too much to drink to be able to walk home herself. On the way home Bertie parked the car in a lay-by and suggested they go for a stroll. When they got out of the car Bertie had to support Cathie as she was too drunk to stand without support. He interpreted this as amounting to an encouragement to him to make advances towards her. He fondled her breasts and was pleasantly surprised when she put up no resistance so he went on to have sexual intercourse with her. Cathie's sole reaction was to submit passively while giggling hysterically. She later said that she would never have allowed sexual intercourse to take place had she not been so drunk. Consider Bertie's possible criminal liability.

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6.

In Palmer (1971) Lord Morris said that reasonable force in self-defence, "requires no set words by way of explanation. No formula need be employed in reference to it. Only common sense is needed for its understanding." Have the courts in subsequent decisions on the use of reasonable force used common sense?

7.

Jemima, who had been drinking heavily, was travelling in a train on her way home, having been to a football match where her local football team were badly beaten by another team. She vented her anger on the train seats two of which she ripped apart. Another passenger, Eric who was sitting nearby eating a roll and butter, hid under a seat in case Jemima attacked him. Eric had been told that day by a fortune teller that the devil was watching him and when David, the train guard, walked past Eric's seat, he thought it was the devil coming to get him. He tripped David up and then stabbed him in the leg with the knife he had used to butter the roll. The cut, although not very serious, required stitches. When David was taken to hospital, he was given an antibiotic injection which reacted badly with the insulin he took to control his diabetes. He suffered a hyperglycaemic episode during which he pushed his way into a laboratory, knocking over a bunsen burner. This caused a fire which spread quickly and burnt down one wing of the hospital. Everybody was safely evacuated and nobody was hurt. Consider the possible criminal liability of Jamima, Eric and David.

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8.

One evening Jinky received a visit from her old friend Lanky. They were both alcoholics and Jinky had a history of depression for which she was taking medication. Together with another friend, Pongo, they spent the evening drinking and reminiscing. Jinky had grievances against Lanky, some of which went back many years. The most recent was her belief that Lanky had stolen her gardening implements and sold them to buy drink. Lanky's repeated denials only inflamed Jinky further. When Pongo went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea, the argument reached fever pitch. Lanky again denied stealing the gardening implements and Jinky lost her temper. She picked up a pair of scissors and stabbed Lanky repeatedly, killing her. Discuss Jinky's possible criminal liability. Would your answer differ if Lanky had not died immediately but had died after Pongo, who had done only one year's nursing training, had decided not to call for an ambulance but had given inappropriate first aid which exacerbated the bleeding?

END OF PAPER

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