History
In part, the Act was a response to the case of R v Derek William Bentley (1952), most recently reviewed the High Court in 1998. Three key issues were thrown into focus:
- constructive malice: the trial judge ruled that there was no defence to the charge of murder once the parties were found engaged in a common purpose to use some violence to resist arrest. The mens rea (Latin for "guilty mind") of murder then included:
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- an intent to commit any felony whatever, and
- an intent to oppose by force any officer of justice ... in ... the execution of provided the offender has notice that the person killed is such an officer so employed;
- Derek Bentley had a mental age of no more than 11 but that fact was irrelevant because the death sentence was mandatory following a murder conviction - judges had no discretion.
- It is also said that the Act was partially a response to the campaigns surrounding the execution of Ruth Ellis, it was directly related to the campaigns led by Sydney Silverman in 1955–56 for total abolition of capital punishment.
Read more about this topic: Homicide Act 1957
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