R v Pagett
A defendant who used a girl as a human shield was the legal cause of her death, even though she was shot by police officers acting in self defence.
Facts
Mr Pagett, armed with a shotgun and wanted by the police, held his pregnant 16 year old girlfriend hostage in a flat. When armed police officers arrived, he came out holding her in front of him as a shield and fired at them. The officers fired back instinctively, and she was killed. Mr Pagett was convicted of manslaughter.
Legal principle
The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction. The police officers' reasonable act of self defence, and in performance of their duty, was not a free, deliberate and informed act of a third party that could break the chain of causation. Robert Goff LJ said that the defendant's act need not be the sole cause of death, as long as it contributed significantly to the result. By using the girl as a shield and firing at the officers, Mr Pagett had caused her 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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