Fatal offences: the actus reus and mens rea of murder, the partial defences of loss of control and diminished responsibility, and voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.

What this dot point is asking

AQA wants you to define murder, explain the two partial defences that reduce murder to voluntary manslaughter, and explain the two forms of involuntary manslaughter, applying each to a scenario. This is a major problem-question topic.

Murder

Voluntary manslaughter: the partial defences

Both are partial defences: if successful they reduce a murder conviction to voluntary manslaughter, giving the judge sentencing discretion instead of the mandatory life sentence. There are important procedural differences. For loss of control the defence raises sufficient evidence and the prosecution must disprove it beyond reasonable doubt; sexual infidelity is excluded as a trigger on its own (R v Clinton), though it may form part of the context. For diminished responsibility the defendant bears the burden of proof on the balance of probabilities and must adduce medical evidence; "substantially impaired" means more than trivial but not total (R v Golds), and the abnormality must be a significant contributory factor in the killing. Intoxication alone is not a recognised medical condition, but alcohol dependence syndrome can found the defence (R v Wood, R v Dietschmann).

Involuntary manslaughter

• Unlawful act (constructive) manslaughter requires an unlawful act (a criminal act, not an omission, R v Lowe) that is dangerous on the objective test (a sober and reasonable person would foresee some harm, R v Church) and which causes death. The defendant needs the mens rea for the unlawful act only (R v Mitchell, DPP v Newbury).
• Gross negligence manslaughter (R v Adomako) requires a duty of care, a breach of that duty, that the breach causes death, and that the negligence was so gross as to be criminal in the jury's view. It often arises in medical and workplace cases (R v Misra).

How fatal offences are examined

Fatal offences are the centrepiece of the criminal module's longer application questions. A strong answer identifies murder first, then works methodically through the partial and involuntary alternatives, always anchoring each element to authority and applying it to the named defendant rather than reciting the law in the abstract.