''HM Advocate v Ross'' was a 1991

Scots criminal law Scots criminal law relies far more heavily on common law than in England and Wales. Scottish criminal law includes offences against the person of murder, culpable homicide, rape and assault, offences against property such as theft and malicious ...

case decided by the High Court of Justiciary. The defendant had been charged with violently attacking others in a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, but was allowed to go free on the premise that he was in a state of non-self-induced automatism. Others in the bar had slipped LSD and other drugs into his

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

without him knowing, and there was only a small amount of alcohol he had been drinking so he was not responsible for his intoxication which led to the violent actions. This case set a key precedent in Scots law for automatism, namely that since this case, if someone has been under the effect of drugs that they themselves did not voluntarily know they were taking or were under the influence of and commit a violent act, it may be a defence for them in court if they can prove or give evidence that their intoxication was not self-induced. Later cases suggested that the Scottish precedent established in ''Ross'' would be followed in England as well.A. P. Simester, A. T. H. Smith, ''Harm and Culpability'' (1996), p. 140, n. 35.

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High Court of Justiciary cases 1991 in Scotland 1991 in case law 1991 in British law {{case-law-stub