Criminal law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Criminal law - Assignment Example However, I would state that this was not just manslaughter but ‘unlawful act manslaughter’ as it shall be discussed later. This case is an example of what is demonstrated in R vs. Creamer1. According to this provision, it is indicated that an individual is considered to have committed unlawful act of manslaughter when in the act of carrying out a criminal act, causes another unexpected harm. In R vs. Dawson, the defendant had attempted to rob a certain petrol station. He was carrying a gun ready to use it if need be. However, he did not know that there was an attendant at the station at that time. When attendant saw the defendant, she collapsed and died. However, the defendant did not do anything that would directly be linked to the death of the attendant. The Judge held that this was an ‘unlawful act manslaughter’ stating that the defendant did not actually kill the attendant. However, it was held that he was ready to use his weapon if there would be any re sistance from anyone. He was therefore sentenced to serve several years in jail. This situation is similar to the one stated in this criminal damage article. The defendant though committed unlawful act of destroying the properties did not was not aware of whether it would have resulted in another catastrophe. He had not intended to harm the toddler, but was just driven by emotions to destroy properties. From the article, I would say that stating that the defendant was charged of ‘manslaughter’ was too general. This is because there is what is referred to as voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. The article should have been able to be clear on the matter. If for instance, the defendant was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, he should have been jailed for life. This is because this would show that actually the man had planned to commit the criminal act. However, as indicated before, the defendant in this article had no aforethought of wanting to harm anyone in the process. It is for this purpose that this article would be said to be too general in assessing this matter. Articles 2 and 3 These two articles are related in the sense that they both refer to a similar criminal act. In both, the arsonists have set ablaze properties, which is an act of crime. However, in the ‘Britain's oldest radical bookshop is burned, but the ideas survive,’ article, it is clear that the suspects have not yet been identified2. It is therefore difficult to tell the kind of sentence that was held by the court. On the other hand though, the third article, ‘Man, 47, charged with arson attack on 1,000-year-old Winchester Cathedral after ancient deanery doors were set ablaze using charity books,’ the police managed to apprehend a man who pleaded guilty of the offence3. He was charged of being responsible for destruction of properties. However, the article is not clear on how many years the individual was to be sentenced. Despite that, the artic le was accurate in identifying the kind of crime that had been committed. In the articles, if the two individuals would be held responsible for committing a crime of Arson. However, according to the common law statutory, a crime is stated to be an arson if, ‘it was malicious and also involves burning of other people’s properties.’ for the man who was apprehended, it is clear that he maliciously committed the act4. Though the