Quote:
Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp
Haven't there already been cases of mitigating circumstances where the charge has been reduced to manslaughter?
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Several, the changes in the law wont really make much difference - post Alluwahliah(probably spelt it wrong) many battered wives have been able to use the defence of provocation - which will reduce murder(mandatory life) to voluntary manslaughter(maximum life - giving the judge some flexibility in sentencing) The partial defence of provocation usually requires an action - things said or done that will cause D a sudden and temporary loss of control - so that they are not the master of their own mind. In Alluwahliah Lord Taylor said that in such a case (a battered wife burned alive her drunken, sleeping husband) cummulative provocation had occured - over the years the provocation had built up and the "last straw" of him turning up drunk and threatening her that night was enough to count as provocation - reducing her sentence of murder to voluntary manslaughter.
Not the best written as I'm struggling to rememeber - i did the exam in january haha but yea I did one of my modules in A level law on murder/voluntary manslaughter and it's defences and we did a fair bit just on cases involving battered wives - I'll check back on this topic in the morning when I'll be able to give a clearer, better written comment heh....