R v O'Grady
A defendant cannot rely on a mistaken belief in the need to use force that was caused by voluntary intoxication.
Facts
Mr O'Grady and his friend had been drinking heavily and fell asleep at Mr O'Grady's flat. He said that he woke up to find his friend hitting him, and that he hit back in self defence. His friend died from head injuries. Mr O'Grady was acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter. He argued that he was entitled to be judged on the facts as he mistakenly believed them to be, even though his mistake was caused by drink.
Legal principle
The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction. Lord Lane CJ said that a defendant is not entitled to rely, so far as self defence is concerned, upon a mistake of fact which has been induced by voluntary intoxication. Public policy requires that a person who uses violence because of a drunken mistake should not escape liability, whether the offence is one of basic or specific intent. The principle is now in section 76(5) of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.
Related cases on defences: self defence, duress and necessity
- Re A (Children) (Conjoined Twins: Surgical Separation) [2001] Fam 147
- Beckford v The Queen [1988] AC 130
- R (Collins) v Secretary of State for Justice [2016] EWHC 33 (Admin), [2016] QB 862
- R v Bowen [1997] 1 WLR 372
- R v Clegg [1995] 1 AC 482
- R v Conway [1989] QB 290
- R v Dudley and Stephens (1884) 14 QBD 273
- R v Gotts [1992] 2 AC 412
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