Criminal Law 2008 Zone B 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.

"By using the phrase 'substantial risk' the [trial] judge blurred the line between intention and recklessness." (Woollin (1998) per Lord Steyn). Discuss.

2.

Natasha was a law student with a part-time job as an office cleaner working for Mike, an insurance broker. One evening, while cleaning his office she noticed that he had left his computer switched on and his email inbox open. Natasha read Mike's emails and saw a message from his boss asking Mike to send his bank account details so that some outstanding commission could be transferred to his account. Natasha replied giving her own account number and Mike's boss transferred £1,000 to her account. When Natasha checked her account the following day, her account was now £800 in credit instead of being overdrawn as it had previously been. She went to a restaurant to celebrate her new found wealth and paid for the meal with her bank card. While she was getting ready to leave the restaurant, she noticed an elderly man carrying her handbag towards the door. Thinking he was going to steal her bag, she ran up to him, snatched her bag from him and pushed him through a glass door. He suffered a broken nose and cuts to his face and arms. He had not been stealing her bag. It had fallen on the floor and he had taken it to hand it in to the cashier whose desk was by the door. Discuss Natasha's possible criminal liability.

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3.

Zandy borrowed a car from Jake telling him it was to be used for a 'job' at the house of a local dignitary, Xavier. Jake assumed this to mean that Zandy was going to burgle the house whereas she was, in fact, planning to plant a bomb in order to destroy it. Zandy's friend, Drusilla, who used to work for Xavier, reluctantly agreed to help Zandy plant the bomb. Zandy had threatened to beat up Drusilla's elderly mother if Drusilla refused to help. Because she was familiar with the house, Drusilla was able to tell Zandy how best to get close to the front door without being spotted and they did a successful practice run together. Drusilla had second thoughts about helping Zandy a few days before they were to plant the bomb. She sent her mother to stay with her brother and told Zandy that she wanted nothing more to do with the plan and advised Zandy to abandon it. Zandy went alone and planted the bomb. However, she had never made a bomb before and it was so defective that it did not explode when she pressed the detonator, and, indeed, could not have exploded in any circumstances. Consider the possible criminal liability of the parties. How, if at all, would your answer differ if, the following day, Zandy had returned to the house with an improved version of the bomb and this bomb went off destroying the house. The house was empty but the adjacent houses had to be evacuated because of the risk of spreading fire.

4.

Etienne, a Frenchman, on holiday in England was at a local disco and had been drinking heavily. He asked Flo if she would dance with him. Flo said "No'"and then, as Etienne turned to go, he staggered against her, pushing her over. Flo's brother Stanley, who saw what happened, rushed over and punched Etienne on the nose shouting, "Get out of the country you bloody foreigner". Etienne's friend Thierry was upset by Stanley's comment and said, "We are all members of the EU now". This further incensed Stanley, who threw a heavy ashtray at Thierry. It missed Thierry but missed him. By this time the police had arrived and, when PC Bill told Stanley he was under arrest, Stanley pushed him out of the way in an attempt to run away. The force knocked PC Bill over and he cracked his head against a table, fracturing his skull. Discuss the possible criminal liability of Etienne and Stanley.

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5.

In Palmer (1971) Lord Morris said of reasonable force in self-defence that, "It is both good law and good sense that a man who is attacked may defend himself. It is both good law and good sense that he may do, but may only do, what is reasonably necessary. Discuss.

6.

Boris and Susie lived together. They were both alcoholics who, when drunk had violent rows. In the course of their rows Susie often made derogatory comments about Boris which affected his self-esteem and which caused him to hit her. He had served a number of prison sentences for these assaults on Susie. Susie and Boris spent an afternoon together in a bar, both drinking heavily. Boris left before Susie and went home to chop some wood. When Susie arrived home a couple of hours later, she told Boris that she had just seen their neighbour, John, with his new dog, Rex. Boris misheard her and thought she had said that she had just had sex with John. Incensed, he picked up the axe he had been using to chop wood. Susie said, "You wouldn't dare!" He then struck Susie a number of times with the axe. Overcome with remorse, he called an ambulance but, due to heavy traffic, the ambulance took 50 minutes to arrive. Susie died on the way to hospital. Discuss Boris's possible criminal liability.

7.

Randolph agreed to pay Lizzie, a prostitute, £50 if she would have sexual intercourse with him. She agreed and sexual intercourse took place but Randolph ran off without paying her. That afternoon, he picked up Chiara in a singles bar. He plied her with drink buying her several double measures when she had asked for singles. They went back to his flat, by which time she was very drunk. He suggested that they have sexual intercourse. Chiara giggled and promptly fell asleep. Undaunted, Randolph had sexual intercourse with her anyway. He thought he would leave her sleeping in his flat while he went to visit some friends. As he left he noticed that she had gone a strange colour and her breathing did not seem normal. He thought she probably just needed to sleep off the alcohol and went on his way. Because of her intoxication and the way she was lying on his sofa, Chiara could not breathe properly and died of suffocation.

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8.

Rita went in to her local library to see if she could find the latest Achilles Pear murder mystery novel. She intended to steal it if she could. She found the book she wanted and took it off the bookshelf. She was about to slip it into her bag when she noticed the librarian watching her and so she put it back on the shelf and left the library. On her way home she noticed that there was a valuable camera on the seat inside Sam's car which had been left unlocked. As she knew that Sam had a conviction for distributing child pornography, she took the camera as she thought he would be using it to take pornographic pictures of children. She threw it into a dustbin. When she arrived home, her neighbour, Sally, invited her in for a cup of coffee. While she was there, she noticed Sally's new Rolex watch and asked Sally if she could borrow it to wear to an appointment she had later on that day as she wanted to impress the person she was meeting. Sally refused as she was worried that Rita might lose it. When Sally was not looking, Rita took the watch intending to return it that evening after her appointment. Her appointment ended earlier than she expected, however, and on the way home she noticed that the pawnshop was still open. As she was short of money, she decided to pawn the watch and redeem it the following day when she received her wages. She would return it to Sally when she had redeemed it. Discuss Rita's possible criminal liability.

END OF PAPER

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