R v Smith - Case notes for tutorial assessment. PDF

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R v SMITH [1959] 2 QB 35 (CMAC) Facts P, a soldier, had been stabbed twice with a bayonet. One wound was more serious than anyone realised. A series of errors and accidents led to his death; another soldier tripped and dropped him twice while carrying him off for medical treatment, and since the seriousness of P’s condition had not been realised, on reaching the medical centre he joined the end of a long queue. He was then given medical treatment described by the court as ‘thoroughly bad’. If he had been treated promptly and correctly then his chances of recovery might have been as high as 75%. FactsEdit There was a fight at a military base and Smith stabbed three people with a bayonet. He stabbed one of the men in the back, and when he was being carried to the hospital he was dropped twice. On top of this, they failed to give the victim a saline solution, could not perform a blood transfusion, and gave him artificial respiration when his lung was collapsed. The victim died. The doctor said that the victim would have had a 75% chance of survival if proper treatment had been given. Smith was charged and convicted of murder at a court martial. Facts  The victim was stabbed by Smith, before being carried to a nearby hospital by his drunken friends  En route to the hospital, he was dropped several times  At the hospital, he was negligently treated Decision Death resulted from the original wound. According to Lord Parker CJ, ‘if at the time of death the original wound is still an operating cause and a substantial cause, then the death can properly be said to be the result of the wound, albeit that some other cause of death is also operating. Only if it can be said that the original wounding is merely the setting in which another cause operates can it be said that the death does not result from the wound. Putting it in another way, only if the second cause is so overwhelming as to make the original wound merely part of the history can it be said that the death does not flow from the wound. . . .’ Key principle D’s act must be the operative and substantial cause of a death for him to be liable for that death. Bad medical treatment will not necessarily break a chain of causation. RatioEdit If an initial cause remains a significant cause when the prohibited outcome occurs, then it is said to be the cause of the outcome even if there are other causes acting towards the outcome, unless the subsequent causes are "overwhelmingly" to blame.

IssueEdit

Citation R v Smith, [1959] 2 QB 35 Appellant Thomas Joseph Smith Respondent Her Majesty the Queen Year 1959 Court Court Martial Appeals Court Judges Lord Parker CJ and Streatfield and Hinchcliffe JJ Country United Kingdom Area of law Causation, External elements, Murder Issue What constitutes a sufficient cause to create criminal liability?

Issue 

Did Smith cause the death of the victim?

Decision 

Yes

Reasoning   

At the time of death, the stabbing was still an operating and substantial cause of death The victim’s decreased chance of survival due to the subsequent acts of the friends and the hospital was irrelevant Neither of the two subsequent acts was a supervening act...