Tried and tested by undergraduate law students across the UK. ‘Everything you could possibly want in a revision guide – to the point, user-friendly, easy to follow’ Peter McNaughton, law student, The Open University The sseerriieess iiss ttaaiilloorreedd ttoo hheellpp yyoouu rreevviissee eeffffeeccttiivveellyy.. UUnnddeerrssttaanndd eesssseennttiiaall ccoonncceeppttss,, rreemmeemmbbeerr C and apply key legislation, and make your answers R stand out! I M I N Reviews the key cases, statutes and legal terms you will need to know for your exam. A L L A W Shows you how to maximise your > UNDERSTAND QUICKLY marks by bringing in areas of further thinking and debate. 3r > REVISE EFFECTIVELY d e > TAKE EXAMS WITH CONFIDENCE d it io n Points out common pitfalls and ways to avoid losing marks. F I N C H 3rd edition A N CRIMINAL LAW D F A Subject-specifi c companion websites let you F I build a personal study plan, try sample exam N questions, test your recall with interactive S K fl ashcards, listen to audio advice, and more! I EMILY FINCH AND STEFAN FAFINSKI £10.99 > UNDERSTAND QUICKLY gn esi UNRIVALLED REVISION SUPPORT INCLUDES EVEN MORE ONLINE! d > REVISE EFFECTIVELY at He > Personalised study plan > Interactive quizzes > Full Q&A support > TAKE EXAMS WITH CONFIDENCE by www.pearson-books.com eries > Flashcards > Revision podcasts > Exam marking insight S CVR_FINC9872_03_SE_CVR.indd 1 23/6/10 08:34:21 law express: criminal law A01_FINC9872_03_SE_FM.indd 1 29/6/10 11:53:59 Develop your legal skills with Longman Written to help you develop the essential skills needed to succeed on your course and prepare for practice. Available from all good bookshops or order online at: www.pearsoned.co.uk/law A01_FINC9872_03_SE_FM.indd 2 29/6/10 11:54:00 CRIMINAL LAW 3rd edition Emily Finch Stefan Fafinski A01_FINC9872_03_SE_FM.indd 3 29/6/10 11:54:00 Pearson Education Limited edinburgh Gate Harlow essex cm20 2Je england and associated companies throughout the world Visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearsoned.co.uk First published 2007 second edition 2009 Third edition 2011 © pearson education limited 2007, 2011 The rights of stefan Fafinski and emily Finch to be identified as authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the copyright, Designs and patents act 1988. all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the copyright licensing agency ltd, saffron House, 6–10 Kirby street, london ec1n 8Ts. pearson education is not responsible for the content of third party internet sites isBn: 978-1-4082-3987-2 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data a catalogue record for this book is available from the British library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Finch, emily. criminal law / emily Finch, stefan Fafinski. -- 3rd ed. p. cm. -- (law express series) includes index. isBn 978-1-4082-3987-2 (pbk.) 1. criminal law--england. 2. criminal law--wales. i. Fafinski, stefan. ii. Title. KD7869.F34 2010 345.42--dc22 2010019787 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 14 13 12 11 10 Typeset by 3 printed by ashford colour press ltd, Gosport A01_FINC9872_03_SE_FM.indd 4 29/6/10 11:54:00 Contents acknowledgements vii introduction viii Guided tour x Guided tour of the companion website xii Table of cases and statutes xiv chapter 1: elements of criminal liability 1 chapter 2: Actus reus 15 chapter 3: Mens rea 33 chapter 4: inchoate liability 50 chapter 5: accessorial liability 66 chapter 6: murder 84 chapter 7: Voluntary manslaughter 94 chapter 8: involuntary manslaughter 114 chapter 9: non-fatal offences 130 chapter 10: sexual offences 158 chapter 11: criminal damage 175 chapter 12: Theft 190 chapter 13: Theft-related offences 206 chapter 14: Fraud 220 chapter 15: insanity and automatism 238 chapter 16: intoxication 250 chapter 17: self-defence 262 chapter 18: Duress 275 and finally, before the exam . . . 287 Glossary of terms 291 index 293 A01_FINC9872_03_SE_FM.indd 5 29/6/10 11:54:00 Supporting resources Visit the law express series companion website at www.pearsoned.co.uk/ lawexpress to find valuable student learning material including: ■■ a study plan test to assess how well you know the subject before you begin your revision, now broken down into targeted study units ■■ interactive quizzes with a variety of question types to test your knowledge of the main points from each chapter of the book ■■ Further examination questions and guidelines for answering them ■■ interactive flashcards to help you revise the main terms and cases ■■ printable versions of the topic maps and checklists ■■ ‘You be the marker’ allows you to see exam questions and answers from the perspective of the examiner and includes notes on how an answer might be marked ■■ podcasts provide point-by-point instruction on how to answer a common exam question Also: The companion website provides the following features: ■■ search tool to help locate specific items of content ■■ e-mail results and profile tools to send results of quizzes to instructors ■■ Online help and support to assist with website usage and troubleshooting For more information please contact your local pearson education sales representative or visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/lawexpress. vi A01_FINC9872_03_SE_FM.indd 6 29/6/10 11:54:01 Acknowledgements as ever, we wish to thank both our own students and those who have contacted us directly or through pearson education with their feedback. we have also been delighted to meet many of our readers at various events since the law express series came into being. we hope that we have managed to reflect your views as well as updating the law. Thanks to the whole team at pearson education who continue to support and chivvy us in equal measure, but especially to Owen and christine. Other than that, we have no idea where the past four years have gone. sF/eF/sTG wokingham February 2010 publisher’s acknowledgements Our thanks go to all reviewers who contributed to the development of this text, including students who participated in research and focus groups, which helped to shape the series format. vii A01_FINC9872_03_SE_FM.indd 7 29/6/10 11:54:01 Introduction criminal law is one of the core subjects required for a qualifying law degree so is a compulsory component on most undergraduate law programmes. aspects of criminal law also appear in other subjects such as environmental law, family law and company law, as well as relating more directly to the study of criminal justice, evidence and criminology. as such, a thorough understanding of criminal law is vital for law students. crime is an integral part of everyday life. it is a prominent feature in the news and is a popular subject for fictional portrayal. most students commencing legal studies will have some experience of crime whether directly, as a victim of crime, or indirectly through exposure to media coverage. This means that most offences covered on the syllabus such as murder, theft and rape will be familiar terms. This tends to give students the impression that they know more about criminal law than they do about other subjects on the syllabus. This can be a real disadvantage in terms of the academic study of criminal law because it tends to lead students to rely on preconceived notions of the nature and scope of the offences and to reach instinctive, but often legally-inaccurate, conclusions. it is absolutely essential to success in criminal law that you put aside any prior knowledge of the offences and focus on the principles of law derived from statutes and cases. By doing this, you will soon appreciate just how much difference there is between everyday conceptions of crime and its actuality. This revision guide will help you to identify and apply the law and it also provides frequent reminders of the importance of abandoning preconceptions about the offences. it is written to be used as a supplement to your course materials, lectures and textbooks. as a revision guide, it should do just that – guide you through revision; it should not be used to cut down on the amount of reading (or thinking) that you have to do in order to succeed. criminal law is a vast and complex subject – you should realise this from looking at the size of your recommended textbook (which, incidentally, covers only a fraction of the criminal law that exists ‘out there’). it follows that this revision guide could never be expected to cover the subject in the depth and detail required to succeed in exams and it does not set out to do so. instead, it aims viii A01_FINC9872_03_SE_FM.indd 8 29/6/10 11:54:01 inTrODUcTiOn to provide a concise overall picture of the key areas for revision – reminding you of the headline points to enable you to focus your revision and identify the key points that you need to know. rEvISIon noTE ■■■■Do not be misled by the familiarity of the offences; learn each topic afresh and focus on the legal meanings of the words that you encounter. ■■■■Do rely on this book to guide you through the revision process. ■■■■Do not rely on this book to tell you everything you need to know about criminal law. ■■■■make sure you consult your own syllabus frequently to check which topics are covered and in how much detail. ■■■■make use of your lecture notes, handouts, textbooks and other materials as you revise as these will ensure that you have sufficient depth of knowledge. ■■■■Take every possible opportunity to practise your essay-writing and problem- solving techniques; get as much feedback as you can. ■■■■Be aware that many questions in criminal law combine different topics. selective revision could leave you unable to answer questions which include reference to material that you have excluded from your revision. Before you begin, you can use the study plan available on the companion website to assess how well you know the material in this book and identify the areas where you may want to focus your revision. ix A01_FINC9872_03_SE_FM.indd 9 29/6/10 11:54:01