AQA AS LAW- Transferred Malice

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AQA AS Law- Transferred Malice.

Transferred Malice allows the court to transfer D's mens rea from the intended victim to the actual victim. This means that a D can still be guilty of a crime if he intended to comit a similair crime but against a different victim. In R v Latimer, D swung his belt at A, following a fight between the two, however D actually stuck hit V in the face. D's mens rea for A was transferred to B, in order to establish criminal liability for the assault against V.

The principle of transferred malice was also applied in R v Mitchell where D pushed a man, who fell onto an elderly woman. The woman was knocked over and later died from her injuries. D's 'malice' (mens rea) was trandferred from the intended victime, to the actual victim and D was found guilty of manslaughter.

Although a defendant's mens rea can be transferred from one victime to another, it cannot be transferred from one crime to another. The actus reus of both crimes must be the sams. In R v Pemblington, D threw a stone intending to hit people in a crowd. Instead he broke a windoes. His intention to

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