WARNING.

The format of this question paper was changed due the COVID-19 pandemic and applies to the 2019-20 examinations only.

LA1010 July ZB

Criminal law

Monday 3 August 2020

You will have TWO HOURS AND 45 MINUTES in which to answer the
questions, including 15 minutes reading time. You must answer all parts of a
question unless otherwise stated.

You will have an additional 30 minutes to download the examination paper and
to upload your saved answers to the VLE; this time should be used solely for
these purposes.

You must answer the COMPULSORY questions in PART ONE and ONE from
the SIX questions in PART TWO.

© University of London 2020

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WARNING. The format of this question paper was changed due the COVID-19 pandemic and applies to the 2019-20 examinations only.

PART ONE

You must answer these COMPULSORY questions.

1. Gerhardt is skiing with his friend Dolly. They decide to race each other
down a steep slope. As they are descending the slope Dolly loses her
ski pole and finds herself veering towards Gerhardt. They collide and
Gerhardt falls over, spraining his ankle.

Later that evening in their chalet, they are playing hide and seek with
some friends, after consuming a few glasses of spiced wine. Gerhardt
tells Dolly to climb into a cupboard and he locks the door and puts the
key in his pocket. Three hours later he remembers that Dolly is still in
the cupboard, but when he unlocks it she can barely walk because
standing for so long has aggravated her bad back. Ever since this
incident she has been diagnosed with claustrophobia.

After their game of hide and seek, they hear a knock on the door.
Gerhardt answers the door and a man pushes past him and walks into
the living room. He is in fact their neighbour, Daniel, who has come to
complain about the noise they are making. However, Daniel is speaking
a language that Gerhardt does not understand. Fearing they are being
burgled he grabs a ski pole and stabs Daniel in the stomach with it,
causing him serious internal injury.

(a) If you were a prosecutor, what would your preferred charge be in

relation to Dolly and Gerhardt’s sprained ankle?

(b) Give reasons for your choice in (a) including an explanation as to

why you chose as you did rather than choosing a different charge.

(c) If you were Dolly’s defence counsel, what arguments would you
raise in response to the charge in (a)?

(d) How would the prosecutor respond to counter the arguments in

(c)?

(e) If you were a prosecutor, what would your preferred charge be in

relation to Gerhardt and Dolly’s injuries?

(f) Give reasons for your choice in (e) including an explanation as to

why you chose as you did rather than a different charge.

(g) If you were Gerhardt’s defence counsel, what arguments would

you raise in response to the charge in (e)?

(h) How would the prosecutor respond to counter the arguments in

(g)?

(i) If you were a prosecutor, what would your preferred charge be in

relation to Gerhardt and Daniel’s injuries?

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WARNING. The format of this question paper was changed due the COVID-19 pandemic and applies to the 2019-20 examinations only.

(j) Give reasons for your choice in (i) including an explanation as to

why you chose as you did rather than choosing a different charge.

(k) If you were Gerhardt’s defence Counsel, what arguments would

you raise in response to the charge in (i)?

(l) How would the prosecutor respond to counter the arguments in

(k)?

PART TWO

You must answer ONE question in this section.

2. Consider the case for a major overhaul in the law of theft.

3. Critically discuss the extent to which a deception on the part of a

defendant invalidates consent to a sexual offence.

4. Compare and contrast the defences of insanity and intoxication.

5. Reg and Dave have been friends for many years. Both attended
rehabilitation for alcoholism together and have kept in touch since. One
night they are spending the evening together at Dave’s house. Reg
suspects that Dave is drinking again and an argument breaks out. Dave
has in fact been putting vodka in the water that he is drinking and has
secretly drunk half a bottle of vodka over two hours. During the
argument Reg taunts Dave about his wife running off with the postman,
as well as about Dave’s inability to hold down a job. Dave has recently
been sacked from his latest job for poor timekeeping.

Dave stands up during the argument and stands over Reg looking very
angry. Reg says to Dave, “You are a pathetic old drunk; a loser who
couldn’t punch his way out of a wet paper bag!” Dave storms out of the
room, pours himself a large vodka and drinks it while playing a game on
his mobile phone. An hour later he returns to his living room where Reg
is watching TV. He pulls out a large spanner, which he had gone to the
garage to get, and tells Reg, “I’ve had enough of you telling me how to
live my life.” He then hits Reg hard on the head several times with the
spanner. Dave then calls the emergency services. The ambulance
service gets stuck in heavy traffic but arrive at the property two hours
later. When they enter the house they find Dave watching TV while Reg
is lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He is pronounced dead at the
scene, the post-mortem indicating he was rendered unconscious by the
blows but died from loss of blood.

Discuss Dave’s liability, if any, for Reg’s death.

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WARNING. The format of this question paper was changed due the COVID-19 pandemic and applies to the 2019-20 examinations only.

6. Jade Price works as an administrator for an international company,

Fabco Ltd. She has been working very long hours recently and has not
been paid overtime. In need of a break one day, she calls a chauffeur
service with whom Fabco have an account and books a car to take her
to a five-star hotel in London. She gives them the name “J Price”. The
Fabco account is in fact for the sole use of the Managing Director,
Jocasta Pryce. The fare for the car is charged to the company account.

As she arrives at the hotel, she is asked to fill in a registration form on

an electronic tablet. She signs in as “J. Pryce” and asks the hotel to
charge the bill to Fabco Ltd. She is then handed a key to the executive
suite.

Jade heads straight to the Spa salon, and when the assistant Petra sees
her wearing a Fabco name badge with “J. Price” written on it, she
assumes it is Jocasta who she has heard is a regular customer. She
offers her a 50% discount on their most expensive treatments to thank
her for her customer loyalty. Jade has the treatments and asks Petra to
charge the fee to her hotel bill. She also tells Petra, “I have a lot of very
influential friends in business and could be a good advert for your
skincare range.” As a result of this Petra hands her a number of pots of
skin care products valued at £500 for no charge.

Jade spends one night at the hotel and packs a bathrobe and a bottle of
champagne from the room in her bag before she leaves.

Discuss what offences, if any, Jade has committed in this scenario.

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WARNING. The format of this question paper was changed due the COVID-19 pandemic and applies to the 2019-20 examinations only.

7. Peggy and Arthur have been married for 20 years. Arthur is a very
demanding husband who controls Peggy’s life very closely – not allowing
her to see her friends, controlling the money she has to spend and
threatening her with violence if she does not do as he says. Peggy has
become very submissive and depressed as a result.

Arthur is owed a large amount of money by a customer, Rodney, who

used Arthur’s building firm to erect an extension to his house. Arthur
tells Peggy that they are both going to Rodney’s house, break in and
mess up his house as a warning to Rodney that he needs to pay up. He
tells Peggy she will have to take a pot of red paint to paint the words “pay
up” on the walls. He tells her, “you know what will happen if you don’t
do as you are told!”

They both go to Rodney’s house. Unbeknown to Peggy, Arthur has

secreted a baseball bat in a bag. They break into Rodney’s house and
while Arthur smashes items in the house and tips over furniture, Peggy
throws red paint around the room. Before she has the chance to paint
the message on the wall, Rodney returns home. Arthur removes the
baseball bat from his bag and threatens Rodney with it. Peggy shouts,
“Don’t do it, Arthur” and runs out of the house. Arthur beats Rodney over
the head with the baseball bat and dies instantly.

Discuss what offences, if any, have been committed by Arthur and

Peggy. (DO NOT discuss non-fatal offences against the person.)

END OF PAPER

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