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KembaraXtra-Case Law-Lowe (1973) Omissions & Manslaughter
Citation: Lowe (1973)
Facts:
Citation: Lowe (1973)
Facts:
- Defendant (D) failed to call a doctor for his ill nine-week-old child.
- D claimed he instructed his wife to call a doctor; she did not.
- The child died 10 days later.
- Unlawful act manslaughter.
- D was not guilty of unlawful act manslaughter.
- Distinction between acts of commission and acts of omission regarding harm.
- Commission: Striking a child in a manner likely to cause harm, resulting in death, can lead to a manslaughter charge.
- Omission: Failing to act, resulting in injury to health and death, should not inevitably lead to a manslaughter charge, even if the omission is deliberate.
- Omissions & Manslaughter: Demonstrates the reluctance of the court to impose manslaughter liability based solely on omissions, even when deliberate.
- If death is a reasonably foreseeable consequence of an omission, why is it not considered as culpable as an act of commission, especially when the omission is deliberate and unlawful? (This explores the moral and legal complexities of assigning criminal liability for failures to act.)
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