- Published on
KembaraXtra-Case Law-Thornton (No. 1) (1992) CA
Key Facts:
Key Facts:
- Defendant (D): Battered wife, subjected to ongoing abuse by her husband.
- Incident: Husband, intoxicated, verbally abused D ("whore") and threatened to kill her in her sleep. D, after obtaining a carving knife for protection, stabbed him, resulting in death.
- Initial Statement: D initially told police she wanted to kill him.
- Whether the history of domestic violence could be considered in determining whether the defendant acted in the heat of passion due to provocation, thus reducing the charge from murder to manslaughter.
- D was found guilty of murder.
- "Sudden and Temporary Loss of Self-Control" (Duffy (1949)): Provocation requires a sudden and temporary loss of self-control.
- Application to Domestic Violence Cases (Beldam LJ): In cases with a history of domestic violence, the critical question is whether the defendant was deprived of self-control "at the moment the fatal blow was struck." The jury must assess whether the defendant lost the self-control they had previously been able to exercise.
- This case highlights the difficulty in applying the traditional "sudden and temporary" loss of self-control requirement to cases involving battered spouses.
- The court acknowledged the relevance of the history of domestic violence, but emphasized that the loss of control must be present at the moment of the killing.
- The case emphasizes that the relevant question is whether the defendant had lost the self-control that they had previously been able to exercise.
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