''R v Cheshire''

991 Year 991 (Roman numerals, CMXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events * March 1: In Rouen, Pope John XV ratifies the first Peace and Truce of God, Truce of God, between ...

1 WLR 844 is an

English criminal law English criminal law concerns offences, their prevention and the consequences, in England and Wales. Criminal conduct is considered to be a wrong against the whole of a community, rather than just the private individuals affected. The state, in ...

case establishing the role of the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...

in finding liability for death, where subsequent medical negligence occurs following the original injury. The

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

found that the jury did not have to weigh up different causes of death, and need only be satisfied that the defendant's actions made a "significant contribution" to the victim's death.

Facts

On 9 December 1987, the appellant attacked and shot a man in a fish and chip shop, following an argument. The victim was admitted to hospital and underwent surgery, though he developed a respiratory problem requiring a

tracheostomy tube Tracheotomy (, ), or tracheostomy, is a surgical airway management procedure which consists of making an incision (cut) on the anterior aspect (front) of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea (windpipe). The re ...

to be inserted into his windpipe.

1 WLR 844, at 844 On 8 February 1988, and again on 14 February, the victim complained that he was having difficulty breathing, dying shortly after. Medical evidence at the defendant's trial was given that the victim's death was the result of his doctor's failure to diagnose the reason behind his breathlessness and respiratory obstruction. Nevertheless, the defendant was convicted, with the trial Judge instructing the jury they could find the defendant's chain of causation could only be broken if they were satisfied that the medical staff had been reckless in their treatment.

Judgment

The

, having been referred to the earlier judgment of ''

R v Jordan ''R v Jordan'' (1956) 40 Cr App R 152 was an English criminal law case that has been distinguished by two later key cases of equal precedent rank for its ruling that some situations of medical negligence following a wounding are those of break ...

'', rejected the appellant's argument that the trial Judge had misdirected the jury with regard to the medical staff's acts. Beldam LJ stated that it was only necessary for the Crown to prove that the defendant's actions caused the victim's death, but not that they need be the only or even main cause of death.

1 WLR 844, at 851 As a general principle, the Court stated that: The judgment therefore consigns the verdict given in ''R v Jordan'' to exceptional cases where the operative cause of death is not the result of the defendant's acts. The ordinary consideration for a jury must be whether the negligent treatment of a victim is so independent of the defendant's acts that it renders them insignificant to the eventual death.

References

{{reflist, 2 C 1991 in case law 1991 in British law Court of Appeal (England and Wales) cases

Facts

Judgment

See also

References