The Blip Blop Blog (Team Entity)

The second classification of mens rea is recklessness i.e. where a defendant commits an act without giving further thought to his or her actions. The law on recklessness is divided into the law prior to R v Caldwell (1982) and the law post R v Caldwell (1982). Prior to Caldwell the only type of recklessness that existed was subjective recklessness as per the decision in R v Cunningham (195I). In Cunningham, the appellant ripped a gas meter from a wall in an attempt to steal money that was deposited in a coin box attached to the meter and as a result gas seeped through fissures in the wall and escaped to the neighboring property where Mrs. Wade (Sarah) was sleeping. “The appellant was convicted upon an indictment framed under s 23 of the Offences against the person Act (1861) * which charged that he unlawfully and maliciously caused to be taken by Sarah Wade a certain noxious thing, namely, coal gas, so as thereby to endanger the life of the said Sarah Wade” In any statut

Mens Rea is divided into various classes. The first type of Mens Rea and the easiest to understand or comprehend is intent. Intention is affirmed when the defendant wants something to happen as a result of his or her actions. Intention itself can be divided into two categories - direct and oblique intent. Direct intent is relatively straightforward and easy enough to discern or establish. For example the defendant wants to kill a person and in furtherance of his or her thought, he or she goes to a shop and purchases a knife and having bought the knife, he or she then stabs his or her victim with the knife, knowing that his or her actions will result in the death of the victim. Similarly the defendant goes to a gunsmith to purchase a gun. He or she acquires the gun and the bullets and at a chosen time and at an appointed location points the gun at the victim and pulls the trigger, once again with the knowledge that his or her actions will result in the death of the victim.

It is a long established principle of criminal law that no crime can be committed without an evil mind and therefore the mental element or the state of the mind, at the time the crime was committed, becomes crucial when determining if an offender is guilty or otherwise. This mental element is commonly known as Mens Rea and it is derived from the Latin phrase “actus reus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea” which simply means that the act is not culpable (deserving blame) unless the mind is guilty. There are however certain exceptions for example when a crime occurs as a result of negligence. Criminal law as we know it came into existence as a result of actions committed as acts of vengeance or it is the cumulative result of acts committed as retaliatory actions for injuries, physical or otherwise, suffered or incurred, because of long standing enmities or a desire to seek revenge or to acquire some form of satisfaction or gratification for loss that has resulted from the action