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UNIVERSITY OF LONDON LA1010 PART B October

DIPLOMA IN LAW / CertHE COMMON LAW

DIPLOMA IN THE COMMON LAW
LLB
BSc DEGREES WITH LAW

Criminal law

Monday 17 October 2016: 11.00 13.30

PART B is worth 75% of the marks of the entire examination.

Candidates will have TWO HOURS AND THIRTY MINUTES in which to

answer the questions.

Candidates must answer THREE from the SIX questions in PART B.

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

Permitted materials
Students are permitted to bring into the examination room the following
specified document: one copy of Blackstones Statutes on Criminal Law
(OUP).

University of London 2016

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1. Advise the parties of their criminal liability (if any) in TWO of the
following three cases.

(a) Virginia is clearing her garden and decides that the quickest way
to get rid of her old damaged shed is to set fire to it. She pours
a bottle of vodka on to the floor, drops a lit match and closes the
door. The fire quickly takes hold but because the wooden shed
had been treated with wood preserver, it produced an unusual
amount of smoke. Leonard, who lives next door was asleep in a
chair in his garden. He inhaled a great deal of smoke and, as
he suffered asthma, he quickly became unable to breathe. His
girlfriend Vita called an ambulance and he was taken to hospital.
In the emergency room he was kept waiting for over two hours
because Dr Nicolson had taken an extended lunch break to go
shopping. Leonard died from asphyxiation caused by inhaling
smoke.

(b) Fred and Wilma had been married for 20 years. Fred had
become suspicious that Wilma was having an affair with Barney
because he had seen several playful messages that she had
sent to Barney on the social media site, FacePage. One night,
Wilma came downstairs wearing a lot of make-up and a very
short skirt. Fred became angry and asked her, where are you
going dressed like a tart? I know you are going out with him.
You should be ashamed of yourself wearing clothes like that.
Im embarrassed to call you my wife! Wilma, enraged by his
comments, went to grab her handbag to leave the house.
Thinking she was about to hit him with it, Fred punched her in
the face, she fell backwards, hit her head on the fireplace and
died instantly.

(c) Chad was a car mechanic, suffering from a severe hangover

from drinking too much at a party the previous night. He
serviced Alexeis car but was too tired to take it for a test drive.
Alexei collected the car and drove off. As he was descending a
steep hill, he tried to brake hard, but the brakes failed because
Chad had forgotten to refill the brake fluid. The car rolled out of
control down the hill and hit Jinny who was walking on the
pavement. Jinny died instantly.

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2. Andre, a drug dealer, is owed money by Remi, a customer. He (Andre)
instructs Omar, his bodyguard, to go and demand the money from
Remi, using force if necessary. He tells Omar that if he doesnt get the
money he will beat up Omars wife, Jude, and tell her about Omars
affair with him. Andre tells Omar that if he gets the money he will
receive a bonus of 20% of the money retrieved. Omar is frightened by
the threat and grabs a knife from his kitchen and hurries to Remis
house. He demands the money and tries to stab Remi with the knife
but the knife is blunt and does not injure Remi. Remi waits until that
night to take revenge on Omar. He breaks into Omars house
intending to attack Omar. Omar is not there but his wife, Jude, is
asleep upstairs with her baby. Remi decides to frighten Jude by
threatening her with violence. He bangs on her bedroom door, which is
locked, and shouts, Im coming in there, and starts to kick the door
down. Fearing for her life and that of the baby, she drops the baby out
of the window hoping she will land on soft grass, and then jumps
herself. The baby dies from the fall. Jude escapes with a broken leg.

Advise the parties on their criminal liability (if any). Do NOT consider
any possible liability under the Serious Crime Act 2007.

3. Outline and discuss critically the present law on intention and

recklessness, giving suggestions for reform.

4. Outline and discuss critically the present law on accessoryship, giving

suggestions for reform.

5. The Billyboy Club at Oxham University has recruited new members,

Lena and Jabba. Both were required, as an initiation to the club, to lie
in the drinking chair, while another member poured glasses of whisky
into their mouths. Lena endured this for 15 minutes and became very
drunk. When it was Jabbas turn, Pongo, the president of the club,
decided to grind up a number of paracetemol tablets into the whisky to
get Jabba even more drunk. Pongo poured the mixture into Jabbas
mouth. Jabba was extremely drunk when he stumbled over to Lena
lying in an armchair. He was about to kiss her when he lost his footing
and fell on top of her, causing their heads to clash. This rendered Lena
temporarily unconscious. Later, as Jabba was leaving the club, the
doorman handed him an umbrella as it was raining. Thinking that the
doorman was a warrior with a sword, Jabba lashed out with his arms
and legs and caused the doorman a black eye and severe bruising to
his legs. Jabba collapsed and was taken to hospital where he had to
be treated for serious liver damage as a result of drinking the whisky
and paracetemol mix.

Advise all parties of their criminal liability (if any).

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6. Advise the parties of their criminal liability (if any) in ALL of the
following THREE cases.

(a) Moira is applying for a car insurance policy online. Knowing that
where she lives there is a prevalence of car theft which is likely
to increase her premium, she puts her sisters address on the
application form.

(b) Rita is having coffee in a caf. When she receives the bill she
finds that her purse is not in her handbag and she has no
money. She puts some old till receipts on the table under the
bill, and leaves the caf. On the pavement outside she sees
that someone has dropped a voucher for a student discount on
a facial massage at the local beauty salon. She goes to the
beauty salon, has the facial massage, and pays the
discounted price.

(c) Adam, a shopper, on taking a pair of shoes to the cash desk for
purchase, notices that the price tags on each shoe show
different amounts. He goes back to the counter to find another
shoe bearing a price tag with the lower amount but cannot find
one. He chooses, therefore, a matching shoe without a price
tag on it and purchases the pair at the lower price.

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