In cases of reckless murder, the jury must be expressly directed on the distinction between the accused's actual state of mind (advertent negligence) and what a reasonable person would have foreseen (inadvertent negligence), with emphasis that the accused's actual state of mind is critically important. Evidence of post-offence conduct such as flight and disposal of a weapon is logically incapable of distinguishing between consciousness of guilt of murder and consciousness of guilt of manslaughter, and should not be left to the jury on the issue of the degree of culpability.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 11 later cases that cite this judgment.