1. Preparing for the Mock Exam
A2 Criminal Law Paper G153
13C Monday 10.3.2014 9.00-11.00
13E Tuesday 11.3.2014 11.30-1.30
2. Starter:
Welcome to the speedy point collector
You have 7 minutes to answer the question…
…the winner will be the person with the most points overall.
4. Introduction:
Applying that knowledge…
Martin sleeps with Claire but doesn’t tell her he has HIV, as he is worried that she will leave him if she knows.
Claire’s brother, Wayne, later finds out from a friend that Martin is HIV positive, and is furious. He sends Martin over
fifty text messages threatening to harm him and let him ‘bleed to death’. Martin does not know who is sending the
messages, but is now too terrified to leave his house.
Meanwhile, Claire has been diagnosed with HIV and wants revenge. She takes her airgun to Martin’s house and fires
it through the letter box, meaning to scare him. Martin, terrified, leaps backwards and breaks his leg. In addition,
the pellet hits him in the stomach, causing his stomach to bleed internally.
Evaluate the accuracy of each of the four statements A, B, C, and D individually, as they apply to the facts in
the above scenario.
Statement A: Martin is liable for a s.20 offence by transmitting HIV to Claire
Statement B: Wayne is not liable for an assault as he did not touch Martin.
Statement C: Claire is liable for s.20 for inflicting the internal bleeding
Statement D: Claire is not liable for GBH for Martin’s broken leg as she didn’t cause it directly.
5. Martin sleeps with Claire but doesn’t tell her he has HIV, as he hasn’t been officially diagnosed. Claire’s brother, Wayne, later finds
out from a friend that Martin is HIV positive, and is furious. He sends Martin over fifty text messages threatening to harm him and
let him ‘bleed to death’. Martin does not know who is sending the messages, but is now too terrified to leave his house.
Meanwhile, Claire has been diagnosed with HIV and wants revenge. She takes her airgun to Martin’s house and fires it through the
letter box. Martin, terrified, leaps backwards and breaks his leg. In addition, the pellet hits him in the stomach, causing his stomach
to bleed internally.
Model Response:
Evaluate the accuracy of each of the four statements A, B, C, and D individually, as they apply to the facts in the above
scenario.
Statement A: Martin is liable for a s.20 offence by transmitting HIV to Claire
6. Self-Assessment
How did you do?
Statement B: Wayne is not liable
for an assault as he did not touch
Martin.
Statement C: Claire is liable for
s.20 for inflicting the internal
bleeding
Statement D: Claire is not liable
for GBH for Martin’s broken leg as
she didn’t cause it directly.
• Establish that to be liable for an assault
Wayne needs to cause Martin to apprehend
imminent personal violence.
• To be liable for s20 wounding, Claire must
cause a break in all layers of the skin. As the
bleeding is internal, this would not be
enough
• To be liable for GBH< Claire needs to at the
least inflict serious harm and intend some
harm to the viticm.
• The threat to ‘make him bleed’ would clearly
be sufficient for unlawful violence.
• In the alternative, she may be liable for
inflicting serious harm by firing the gun
which caused the internal bleeding.
• By firing the gun, she causes Martin’s
apprehension of imminent harm, causing him
to jump backwards resulting in the harm.
• As Martin only has to apprehend the
violence, the text messages would be
sufficient.
• Internal bleeding is clearly sufficient for
serious harm, which is necessary under s.20
• Claire does not need to directly apply the
force as long as she causes the force to be
applied, as she has here.
• Martin’s reaction and his lack of knowledge
as to who they are from makes the attack
seem imminent.
• Claire clearly intended at least some harm
by firing the air gun and so has the mens
rea.
• By firing through the letterbox, she is at least
reckless as to some harm which is sufficient
for s.20
• Conclude that the statement is false as
Wayne’s actions have resulted in the harm to
Martin.
• Conclude that the statement is true, as she
has both the mens rea and actus reus
necessary for s.20
• Conclude that the statement is true.
7. Applying your learning… Let’s practice what you preach!
Remember…
You will have three and must answer one
of them.
They are worth 50 and should be logical,
detailed and well applied... In fifty
minutes
You should refer to at least eight well
explained cases and will need to know your
definitions to help.
You should deal with each defendant
separately (subheadings can be useful)
You need to remember:
O
C
D
In structuring your answer.
Sinita and Mina share a flat. One night Sinita finds Mina kissing Sinita’s
boyfriend, Alberto. She picks up a glass of water, raises it in the air and
shouts at Mina, “You hussy, I’ll kill you!” She tries to throw the water at
Mina but the glass slips from her hand and strikes Mina in the face cutting
her forehead.
Alberto is so angry that he pushes Sinita and she falls backwards over a
stool onto the floor and is knocked unconscious for a few seconds.
When Sinita recovers consciousness she is still dizzy and stumbles towards
Mina knocking her onto the floor. Mina suffers a fractured arm.
Later that evening, when Sinita is sleeping, Mina gets a pair of scissors and
cuts off Sinita’s ponytail in an act of revenge.
Discuss the potential criminal liability of Sinita, Alberto and Mina for the
above incidents. [50]
8. Sinita and Mina share a flat. One night Sinita finds Mina kissing
Sinita’s boyfriend, Alberto. She picks up a glass of water, raises it
in the air and shouts at Mina, “You hussy, I’ll kill you!” She tries to
throw the water at Mina but the glass slips from her hand and
strikes Mina in the face cutting her forehead.
Alberto is so angry that he pushes Sinita and she falls backwards
over a stool onto the floor and is knocked unconscious for a few
seconds.
When Sinita recovers consciousness she is still dizzy and stumbles
towards Mina knocking her onto the floor. Mina suffers a
fractured arm.
Later that evening, when Sinita is sleeping, Mina gets a pair of
scissors and cuts off Sinita’s ponytail in an act of revenge.
Discuss the potential criminal liability of Sinita, Alberto and
Mina for the above incidents. [50]
Stage One: highlight and annotate the problem, identifying relevant cases, statutes
and definitions.
9. Sinita and Mina share a flat. One night Sinita finds Mina kissing
Sinita’s boyfriend, Alberto. She picks up a glass of water, raises it
in the air and shouts at Mina, “You hussy, I’ll kill you!” She tries to
throw the water at Mina but the glass slips from her hand and
strikes Mina in the face cutting her forehead.
Alberto is so angry that he pushes Sinita and she falls backwards
over a stool onto the floor and is knocked unconscious for a few
seconds.
When Sinita recovers consciousness she is still dizzy and stumbles
towards Mina knocking her onto the floor. Mina suffers a
fractured arm.
Later that evening, when Sinita is sleeping, Mina gets a pair of
scissors and cuts off Sinita’s ponytail in an act of revenge.
Discuss the potential criminal liability of Sinita, Alberto and
Mina for the above incidents. [50]
Stage Two: Start planning your answer by noting down the OCD issues for each
defendant.
Sinita
Mina:
Alberto:
10. Stage Three: Plan and write the essay!
Introduction:
This should identify the
issues that the problem has
raised and what you are
going to talk about...
Main:
This considers the issues as they apply to each character.
You must ensure that you are clearly explaining each
element (definitions and origins... Including the facts of
any relevant case) and then applying these to the
situation to come to a conclusion.
Remember: even the obvious must be stated! The
examiner cannot mark what you do not write down!
“Sinita may be liable for inflicting a wound under s.20 OAPA 1861 for the
cut to Mina’s head. This is because the courts have clearly defined a
wound as a cut in all layers of the skin, which seems to be the case here.
This definition was confirmed by the courts in the case of Eisenhower,
who shot V in the eye with a pellet. The court held that although it
caused the blood vessels in his eye to burst, it was not a wound as it had
not broken the skin.”
Conclusion:
Overall, what do you think
the court is likely to find
them liable for and why?
Hint: with non-fatal offence questions, focus on the harm as the starting point!
11. The final style of question:
Question B Applied Problems
25 AO1; 20 AO2; 5 AO3
You are going to
mark this real
answer from June
2012.
Can you work out
the key skills
necessary for
success and
accurately mark
the problem?
12. So, what should your problem question look like?
Stage One: what key information or issues are
you going to expect to see in response to this
question?
Stage Two: read the essay and annotate it. This
means commenting on what the strengths of the
essay are, or pointing out things that they should
have considered or thought about.
Stage Three: Now, look back through the essay
and highlight the cases. You can only credit these
if they are used properly: any which are just
dropped in cannot receive full credit.
13. Stage Four: Finally, look at the mark grid below and decide which box describes what you have
read for each assessment objective.
15. How are your essays going?
Student tasks:
Read through the comments on your essay and the feedback.
Ask any questions
Complete the general feedback sheet at the front of your folder, and
include reference to the DRAG test as well.
Complete the detailed feedback sheet and attach it to your essay.
