There is no allegation more serious than an allegation of murder, which, since the abolition of the death penalty over half a century ago, carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.

Police expend huge resources on murder investigations and, as such, the key to defending such cases is to have a highly experienced lawyer with specialist skills including high level strategic thinking, flawless organisation and a tough and determined litigation style that leaves no stone unturned.

What is the offence of Murder?

Murder and manslaughter fall within the wider definition of homicide. There is currently no ‘first degree’ or ‘second degree’ definition. Murder is committed when a person unlawfully kills another person and they have the intention to either kill or to cause grievous bodily harm. In contrast to the offence of murder, attempted murder requires the existence of an intention to kill, not merely to cause grievous bodily harm.

Joint Enterprise

The law on joint enterprise was refined by the Supreme Court in 2016 in the case of R v Jogee [2016] UKSC 8. Joint enterprise applies where two or more people are involved in an offence. The parties to a joint enterprise may be ‘principals’, who carry out the act of killing, or ‘secondary parties’ such as accessories and accomplices who assist and encourage the killing.

A joint enterprise killing can be pre-planned or it can be spontaneous. These cases often involves multiple defendants with a risk of cut-throat defences in which individuals blame each other and which often end in the conviction of innocent and guilty alike.

Voluntary Manslaughter

There are some partial defences to murder. These include diminished responsibility, killing in pursuance with a suicide pact and loss of control (which replaced the previous defence of provocation and applies for deaths since 4^th October 2010).

All of these defences reduce the offence to an act of voluntary manslaughter not murder.

Involuntary Manslaughter

Involuntary manslaughter is where an unlawful killing is committed without the intention to kill or to cause grievous bodily harm. There are two types of involuntary manslaughter: that caused by a person’s unlawful or dangerous act, and that caused by a person’s gross negligence.

Unlawful act manslaughter is committed where a person intentionally did an unlawful and dangerous act from which death inadvertently resulted. The unlawful act must be criminal in nature and must also be dangerous. An act is considered dangerous if it exposed someone to the risk of some harm not necessarily the person who subsequently died.

The offence of gross negligence manslaughter is committed where a person owes a duty of care to another who dies as a result of a grossly negligent breach of that duty. These allegations are most commonly investigated following deaths in the workplace or as a result of medical treatment.

Causation

In order to prove murder or manslaughter, there must be a causal link between the unlawful act or omission and the death without an intervening act to break the chain of causation. The act or omission must be a substantial cause of death, but it need not be the sole or main cause of death.

Expertise

The senior lawyers at Hickman & Rose have a long track record in defending people on murder and manslaughter charges, with an enviable rate of success. Our experience includes organised crime related shootings, joint enterprise stabbings, familial offences including alleged baby shaking, one punch manslaughter and allegations of gross negligence manslaughter against medical professionals.

We instruct advocates who are the best in their field and work with leading experts in areas including pathology, forensic science, cell site and mobile phone forensics and toxicology.

We can be trusted to give every case proper attention and will ensure that every avenue of defence is explored. We have successfully defended many cases where causation has been in issue, for example where we have demonstrated that death was of natural causes or a tragic accident.