{"id":5262,"date":"2018-03-07T09:26:59","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T09:26:59","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-10-25T13:38:40","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T13:38:40","slug":"r-v-blaue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/cases\/r-v-blaue.php","title":{"rendered":"R v Blaue – 1975"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legal Case Summary<\/h2>\n

R v Blaue [1975] 1 WLR 1411<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chain of Causation \u2013 Manslaughter \u2013 Novus Actus Interveniens \u2013 Victim\u2019s Own Act \u2013 Egg shell Skull Rule<\/p>\n

Facts<\/h3>\n

After the victim refused the defendant\u2019s sexual advances the defendant stabbed the victim four times.\u00a0 Whist the victim was admitted to hospital she required medical treatment which involved a blood transfusion.\u00a0 The victim was a Jehovah\u2019s Witness whose religious views precluded\u00a0 accepting a blood transfusion.\u00a0 She was informed that without a blood transfusion she would die but still refused to countenance treatment as a result of her religious conviction.\u00a0 The victim subsequently died and the defendant was charged with manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility.\u00a0 The defendant appealed.<\/p>\n

Issue<\/h3>\n

Did the victim\u2019s refusal to accept medical treatment ritute a novus actus interveniens <\/em>and so break the chain of causation between the defendant\u2019s act and her death?\u00a0 Whether the test laid down in R v Roberts<\/a> (1971) 56 Cr App R 95 was to be applied because of an omission on behalf of the victim.<\/p>\n

Decision \/ Outcome<\/h3>\n

The appeal was dismissed.\u00a0 The stab wound and not the girl\u2019s refusal to accept medical treatment was the operating cause of death.\u00a0 The victim\u2019s rejection of a blood transfusion did not break the chain of causation.\u00a0 The defendant must take their victim as they find them and this includes the characteristics and beliefs of the victim and not just their physical condition.\u00a0 Unlike in R v Roberts (1971) 56 Cr App R 95 <\/strong>the victim\u2019s decision was an omission and not a positive act and so the test was not of whether the omission was reasonably foreseeable.\u00a0 In the case of omissions by the victim \u2018egg-shell skull\u2019 rule was to be applied.\u00a0 Even if R v Roberts (1971) 56 Cr App R 95 <\/strong>is applied the victim\u2019s response was foreseeable taking into account their particular characteristics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After the victim refused the defendant\u2019s sexual advances the defendant stabbed the victim four times.\u00a0 Whist the victim was admitted to hospital she required medical treatment which involved a blood transfusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85],"class_list":["post-5262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cases","tag-uk-law"],"yoast_head":"\nR v Blaue - 1975 | LawTeacher.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After the victim refused the defendant\u2019s sexual advances the defendant stabbed the victim four times.\u00a0 Whist the victim was admitted to hospital she required medical treatment which involved a blood transfusion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/cases\/r-v-blaue.php\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"R v Blaue - 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