The relevant sections of the Act are as follows: Despite what has been said by my Noble and Learned friend, Viscount Dilhorne, to the contrary, I think this concession to have been right. The defendant was a landlady of a house let to tenants. An alternative to lists of cases, the Precedent Map makes it easier to establish which ones may be of most relevance to your research and prioritise further reading. On the other hand, the appellants gave the fullest and most candid account of their processes which led the Magistrates to conclude that they, "had taken all reasonable care to prevent the presence of the caterpillar in the tin.". Despite what has been said by my Noble and Learned friend, Viscount Dilhorne, to the contrary, I think this concession to have been right. Subscribers are able to see a visualisation of a case and its relationships to other cases. 5Ashworth, A., Belief, Intent and Criminal Liability, in J. Eekelaar and J. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. 7th Sep 2021 This innocent insect, thus deprived of its natural destiny, was in fact entirely harmless, since, prior to its entry into the tin, it had been subjected to a cooking process of twenty minutes duration at 250 Fahrenheit, and, had she cared to do so, Mrs. Voss could have consumed the caterpillar without injury to herself, and even, perhaps, with benefit. Section 113 of the Act provides the means of defence of the original vendor referred to above, and the power of the local authority to short circuit the prosecution. From local authority to the Dorchester magistrates, from the Dorchester magistrates to a Divisional Court presided over by the Lord Chief Justice of England, from the Lord Chief Justice to the . swarb.co.uk is published by David Swarbrick of 10 Halifax Road, Brighouse, West Yorkshire, HD6 2AG. You also get a useful overview of how the case was received. She would need her husband to accompany her, and sought an order requiring the respondent to provide clear guidelines on the . The court held that P had standing but the challenge failed on its merits. In allowing the defendants appeal, Lord Evershed expressed the view that the imposition of strict liability could only really be justified where it would actually succeed in placing the onus to comply with the law on the defendant. Smedleys v Breed; the facts of the case are then outlined to show the operation of strict liability 138, D.C. and Southworth v. Whitewell Dairies Ltd. (1958) 122 J.P. 322, D.C. considered. The Criminal Courts and Lay People - Key Cases. E-book or PDF. Even if it were accepted that the presence of the caterpillar was a consequence of the process of collection or preparation rather than something which had occurred despite those processes, the defendants were not entitled to rely on s3(3) since the caterpillar could have been removed from the peas during the process of collection or preparation and its presence could thereby have been avoided. Subscribers can access the reported version of this case. It was held that in the absence of any evidence that the defendant knew, or had reason for knowing, or that he believed, that the girl was under the care of her father at the time, that a conviction under s55 OAPA 1861 could not be sustained. Strict liability offences violate the principle of coincidence as they do not need the mens rea element to be proved. Take a look at some weird laws from around the world! 502; see also J. Horder, A Critique of the Correspondence Principle in Criminal Law [1995] Crim.L.R. Horder, A Critique of the Correspondence Principle in Criminal Law [1995] Crim.L.R. 2) P should consider whether prosecution serves a useful purpose before proceeding. . One of these circumventions is found in the doctrine of transferred malice. foolproof; that the defence provided by section 3 (3) imported a standard of reasonable care, and the evidence showed that the defendants had in fact taken reasonable care; and that it was possible to distinguishLindley v. George W. Horner & Co. Ltd. [1950] 1 All E.R. Tel: 0795 457 9992, or email david@swarb.co.uk, Wildig v Bournemouth Borough Council: CA 26 Apr 2001, McGrady v The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: FTTGRC 9 Mar 2021, A and Others v National Blood Authority and Another, Purdy, Regina (on the Application of) v Director of Public Prosecutions and others, Purdy, Regina (on the Application of) v Director of Public Prosecutions, British Airways Plc v British Airline Pilots Association: QBD 23 Jul 2019, Wright v Troy Lucas (A Firm) and Another: QBD 15 Mar 2019, Hayes v Revenue and Customs (Income Tax Loan Interest Relief Disallowed): FTTTx 23 Jun 2020, Ashbolt and Another v Revenue and Customs and Another: Admn 18 Jun 2020, Indian Deluxe Ltd v Revenue and Customs (Income Tax/Corporation Tax : Other): FTTTx 5 Jun 2020, Productivity-Quality Systems Inc v Cybermetrics Corporation and Another: QBD 27 Sep 2019, Thitchener and Another v Vantage Capital Markets Llp: QBD 21 Jun 2019, McCarthy v Revenue and Customs (High Income Child Benefit Charge Penalty): FTTTx 8 Apr 2020, HU206722018 and HU196862018: AIT 17 Mar 2020, Parker v Chief Constable of the Hampshire Constabulary: CA 25 Jun 1999, Christofi v Barclays Bank Plc: CA 28 Jun 1999, Demite Limited v Protec Health Limited; Dayman and Gilbert: CA 24 Jun 1999, Demirkaya v Secretary of State for Home Department: CA 23 Jun 1999, Aravco Ltd and Others, Regina (on the application of) v Airport Co-Ordination Ltd: CA 23 Jun 1999, Manchester City Council v Ingram: CA 25 Jun 1999, London Underground Limited v Noel: CA 29 Jun 1999, Shanley v Mersey Docks and Harbour Company General Vargos Shipping Inc: CA 28 Jun 1999, Warsame and Warsame v London Borough of Hounslow: CA 25 Jun 1999, Millington v Secretary of State for Environment Transport and Regions v Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council: CA 25 Jun 1999, Chilton v Surrey County Council and Foakes (T/A R F Mechanical Services): CA 24 Jun 1999, Oliver v Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council: CA 23 Jun 1999, Regina v Her Majestys Coroner for Northumberland ex parte Jacobs: CA 22 Jun 1999, Sheriff v Klyne Tugs (Lowestoft) Ltd: CA 24 Jun 1999, Starke and another (Executors of Brown decd) v Inland Revenue Commissioners: CA 23 May 1995, South and District Finance Plc v Barnes Etc: CA 15 May 1995, Gan Insurance Company Limited and Another v Tai Ping Insurance Company Limited: CA 28 May 1999, Thorn EMI Plc v Customs and Excise Commissioners: CA 5 Jun 1995, London Borough of Bromley v Morritt: CA 21 Jun 1999, Kuwait Oil Tanker Company Sak; Sitka Shipping Incorporated v Al Bader;Qabazard; Stafford and H Clarkson and Company Limited; Mccoy; Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and Others: CA 28 May 1999, Worby, Worby and Worby v Rosser: CA 28 May 1999, Bajwa v British Airways plc; Whitehouse v Smith; Wilson v Mid Glamorgan Council and Sheppard: CA 28 May 1999. at [49].51 Ibid. (2) That, in determining whether food containing extraneous matter was of the substance demanded, the question, which was one of fact for the justices, was whether an ordinary reasonable purchaser would be so affronted by the presence of the extraneous matter as to regard the whole article as unfit and, therefore, not of the substance demanded (post, p. 985C-D). Brought to you by: EBradbury & Rocket Education 2012 - 2021EBradbury & Rocket Education 2012 - 2021 Lord Reid held that the strong inference that possession of a package by an accused was possession of its contents could be rebutted by raising real doubt either (a) whether the accused (if a servant) had both no right to open the package and no reason to suspect that the contents of the package were illicit, or (b) that (if the accused were the owner of the package) he had no knowledge of, or was genuinely mistaken as to, the actual contents or their illicit nature and received them innocently, and also that he had no reasonable opportunity since receiving the package to acquaint himself with its contents. These are the sources and citations used to research Advs and Disadvs of lay magistrates. 1487; [1972] 3 All E.R. It reads (so far as material) as follows: "A person against whom proceedings are brought under this Act shall, upon information duly laid by him and on giving to the prosecution not less than three clear days' notice of his intention, be entitled to have any person to whose act or default he alleges that the contravention of the provisions in question was due brought before the court in the proceedings; and if, after the contravention has been proved, the original defendant proves that the contravention was due to the act or default of that other person, that other person may be convicted of the offence, and, if the original defendant further proves that he has used all due diligence to secure that the provisions in question were complied with, he shall be acquitted of the offence.". 29Monaghan, N, Criminal Law (Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2014) 25 et seq. Smedleys Ltd. v. Breed, Request a trial to view additional results, Johnson Tan Han Seng v PP and Soon Seng Sia Heng v PP and PP v Chea Soon Hoong and Teh Cheng Poh v PP. ACTUS non facit reum nisi mens sit rea is viewed as one of the key principles in common law principles of criminal liability.1 This principle is, however, highly abstract. Shelley's"Adonais" As a Pastoral; An Evaluation of the Place Occupied by the Greek Pastoral Elegy from Its Earliest Appearance to the Present Though the contrary was argued in the Divisional Court, it was accepted in this House that the substance of the peas and caterpillar taken together were not of the substance demanded by the purchaser. According to this, a defendants intention regarding one crime can be transferred to his or her performance of the actus reus in relation to another crime. Case Summary Advanced A.I. However, by sanctioning criminal liability in respect of any level of harm caused to a particular interest, derived from the wrongfully directed conduct, the proportionality principle appears to have permissive as well as restrictive elements.11 Both principles permit criminal liability for any harm caused to an interest, which goes beyond what was intended or foreseen. "In proceedings under section two of this Act in respect of any food containing some extraneous matter, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that the presence of that matter was an unavoidable consequence of the process of collection or preparation.". In this case the latter factor was significant, in that no amount of reasonable care by the defendant would have prevented the offence from being committed. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. It was held that the mens rea presumption was considerably stronger when the offence was truly criminal in nature, instead of merely regulatory, and this could be displaced only by express wording or in the event that it was a necessary implication of a statutory effect.25 In this sense, the statute needs to involve a matter of social concern. smedleys v breed 1974 case summaryfun date activities in brooklyn smedleys v breed 1974 case summary. 15J. ACCEPT, (3) is of no practical effect (post, pp. On the one hand, mens rea principles may have moral authority3 in the same way as any other legal principle, by being based on the soundest theory of guilt, which is applicable to the particular crime in question. 1487 was not applicable and Southworth v. Whitewell Dairies (1958) 122 J.P. 322 could be distinguished; and that Lindley v. George W. Horner & Co. Ltd. [1950] 1 All E.R. The Court applied Lord Scarmans principles in Gammon and found that, though the presumption in favour of mens rea was strong because the offence carried a sentence of imprisonment and was, therefore, truly criminal, yet the offence dealt with issues of serious social concern in the interests of public safety (namely, frequent unlicensed broadcasts on frequencies used by emergency services) and the imposition of strict liability encouraged greater vigilance in setting up careful checks to avoid committing the offence. Thus it was that Smedleys Limited, the present appellants, and not Tesco Limited, found themselves defendants to a summons which alleged that the sale by Tesco Limited was of peas which were not of the substance demanded by Mrs. Voss since they included the caterpillar and that this was due to the act or default of Smedleys Limited. 1056; [1953] 2 All E.R. Although the contrary had been contended below, it was conceded before your Lordships that the peas, with the caterpillar among them, were not of the substance demanded by Mrs. Voss. The justices heard the information on August 30, 1972, and found the following facts. Disclaimer: This essay has been written by a law student and not by our expert law writers.