R v Dear
A victim's failure to treat his wounds, or even his deliberate reopening of them, did not break the chain of causation.
Facts
Mr Dear attacked the victim with a Stanley knife, after being told that the victim had sexually abused his daughter. The victim's wounds were serious, and he died two days later. The defence argued that the victim had committed suicide, by reopening his wounds or failing to take steps to stop the bleeding when they reopened.
Legal principle
The Court of Appeal upheld the murder conviction. The question was whether the injuries inflicted by the defendant were an operating and significant cause of death, and they were, whether the wounds had reopened by themselves or had been reopened by the victim. The court held that the distinction between the victim's neglect of his wounds and his deliberate reopening of them was not material to causation, because the wounds inflicted by the defendant remained a substantial cause of death.
Related cases on causation
- Baker v Willoughby [1970] AC 467
- Barker v Corus UK Ltd [2006] UKHL 20, [2006] 2 AC 572
- Barnett v Chelsea and Kensington Hospital Management Committee [1969] 1 QB 428
- Bonnington Castings Ltd v Wardlaw [1956] AC 613
- Chester v Afshar [2004] UKHL 41, [2005] 1 AC 134
- Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd [2002] UKHL 22, [2003] 1 AC 32
- Gregg v Scott [2005] UKHL 2, [2005] 2 AC 176
- Hotson v East Berkshire Area Health Authority [1987] AC 750
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