Manslaughter—single punch or strike taken to be dangerous act
4A Manslaughter—single punch or strike taken to be dangerous act
S. 4A inserted by No. 72/2014 s. 3.
This section applies to a single punch or strike that—
is delivered to any part of a person's head or neck; and
by itself causes an injury to the head or neck.
A single punch or strike is to be taken to be a dangerous act for the purposes of the law relating to manslaughter by an unlawful and dangerous act.
For the purposes of subsection (2), it is irrelevant that the single punch or strike is one of a series of punches or strikes.
A single punch or strike may be the cause of a person's death even if the injury from which the person dies is not the injury that the punch or strike itself caused to the person's head or neck but another injury resulting from an impact to the person's head or neck, or to another part of the person's body, caused by the punch or strike.
Example
If a person punches another person to the head, and that other person falls, hits their head on the road, and dies from the injury resulting from their head hitting the road, the punch may be the cause of their death.
Nothing in this section limits the circumstances in which a punch or strike may be an unlawful and dangerous act for the purposes of the law relating to manslaughter by an unlawful and dangerous act.
In this section—
injury has the same meaning as in Subdivision (4);
strike means a strike delivered with any part of the body.
Notes to s. 4A amended by No. 14/2015 s. 69(7)(8).
Notes
1 Under section 11 of the Jury Directions Act 2015, after the close of all evidence and before the closing address of the prosecution, defence counsel must inform the trial judge whether each element of the offence is or is not in issue, including—
• whether the punch or strike was a dangerous act; and
• whether the punch or strike caused the person's death.
2 Under section 12 of the Jury Directions Act 2015, the prosecution and defence counsel must each request that the trial judge give, or not give, to the jury particular directions in respect of the matters in issue, which may include—
• whether the punch or strike was a dangerous act; and
• whether the punch or strike caused the person's death.
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