Where an accused has taken steps to procure rescue of a victim (such as making a 000 call), the virtual certainty that such steps would be effective must be weighed against any inference that the accused later realised the victim had not been rescued. Speculative inferences from the absence of media reports or family information are insufficient to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the accused fully realised the victim would probably die. The date of death must also be established with sufficient certainty to prove that any such realisation preceded death.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 4 later cases that cite this judgment.