Читать книгу Criminal Law - Mark Thomas - Страница 118

The second circumstance where the chain of causation may be broken is as a result of the victim’s own act. The victim’s act may break the link between the original act of the defendant and the end result. There are three key scenarios worth considering under this heading:

(1) The victim may bring about the end result in attempting to escape from the defendant. These cases are often referred to as ‘fright and flight’ cases and look to see whether the acts of the victim are foreseeable or unreasonable.

(2) Known as the ‘drug-dealing’ cases, here the court questions whether the victim’s self-administration of drugs will break the chain of causation rendering the accused, the ‘drug-dealer’, not liable for the death or injuries that follow administration.

(3) The final circumstance is more of a mixed bag and consists of where the victim refuses medical treatment, exacerbates their injuries through neglect or self-aggravation, or ends their own life as a result of the defendant’s conduct.

We shall consider each in turn.