Criminal law

325 Pages·2011·6.921 MB·xix, 303 p. ill\325

by  Emily Finch, Stefan Fafinski

Tried and tested by undergraduate law students across the UK.
‘Everything you could possibly want in a revision guide
– to the point, user-friendly, easy to follow’
Peter McNaughton, law student, The Open University
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law express: criminal law

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Develop your legal skills
with Longman

Written to help you develop the essential skills needed
to succeed on your course and prepare for practice.
Available from all good bookshops or order online at:
www.pearsoned.co.uk/law
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CRIMINAL LAW
3rd edition
Emily Finch
Stefan Fafinski

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Pearson Education Limited
edinburgh Gate
Harlow
essex cm20 2Je
england
and associated companies throughout the world
Visit us on the World Wide Web at:
www.pearsoned.co.uk
First published 2007
second edition 2009
Third edition 2011
© pearson education limited 2007, 2011
The rights of stefan Fafinski and emily Finch to be identified as authors of this work have been
asserted by them in accordance with the copyright, Designs and patents act 1988.
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting
restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the copyright licensing agency ltd, saffron
House, 6–10 Kirby street, london ec1n 8Ts.
pearson education is not responsible for the content of third party internet sites
isBn: 978-1-4082-3987-2
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
a catalogue record for this book is available from the British library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Finch, emily.
criminal law / emily Finch, stefan Fafinski. -- 3rd ed.
p. cm. -- (law express series)
includes index.
isBn 978-1-4082-3987-2 (pbk.)
1. criminal law--england. 2. criminal law--wales. i. Fafinski,
stefan. ii. Title.
KD7869.F34 2010
345.42--dc22
2010019787
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
14 13 12 11 10
Typeset by 3
printed by ashford colour press ltd, Gosport
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Contents
acknowledgements vii
introduction viii
Guided tour x
Guided tour of the companion website xii
Table of cases and statutes xiv
chapter 1: elements of criminal liability 1
chapter 2: Actus reus 15
chapter 3: Mens rea 33
chapter 4: inchoate liability 50
chapter 5: accessorial liability 66
chapter 6: murder 84
chapter 7: Voluntary manslaughter 94
chapter 8: involuntary manslaughter 114
chapter 9: non-fatal offences 130
chapter 10: sexual offences 158
chapter 11: criminal damage 175

chapter 12: Theft 190
chapter 13: Theft-related offences 206
chapter 14: Fraud 220
chapter 15: insanity and automatism 238
chapter 16: intoxication 250
chapter 17: self-defence 262
chapter 18: Duress 275
and finally, before the exam . . . 287
Glossary of terms 291
index 293
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Supporting resources
Visit the law express series companion website at www.pearsoned.co.uk/
lawexpress to find valuable student learning material including:
■■ a study plan test to assess how well you know the subject before you
begin your revision, now broken down into targeted study units
■■ interactive quizzes with a variety of question types to test your knowledge
of the main points from each chapter of the book
■■ Further examination questions and guidelines for answering them
■■ interactive flashcards to help you revise the main terms and cases
■■ printable versions of the topic maps and checklists
■■ ‘You be the marker’ allows you to see exam questions and answers from
the perspective of the examiner and includes notes on how an answer
might be marked
■■ podcasts provide point-by-point instruction on how to answer a common
exam question
Also: The companion website provides the following features:
■■ search tool to help locate specific items of content
■■ e-mail results and profile tools to send results of quizzes to instructors
■■ Online help and support to assist with website usage and troubleshooting

For more information please contact your local pearson education sales
representative or visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/lawexpress.
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Acknowledgements
as ever, we wish to thank both our own students and those who have contacted
us directly or through pearson education with their feedback. we have also been
delighted to meet many of our readers at various events since the law express series
came into being. we hope that we have managed to reflect your views as well as
updating the law. Thanks to the whole team at pearson education who continue to
support and chivvy us in equal measure, but especially to Owen and christine. Other
than that, we have no idea where the past four years have gone.
sF/eF/sTG
wokingham
February 2010
publisher’s acknowledgements
Our thanks go to all reviewers who contributed to the development of this text,
including students who participated in research and focus groups, which helped to

shape the series format.
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Introduction
criminal law is one of the core subjects required for a qualifying law degree so is a
compulsory component on most undergraduate law programmes. aspects of criminal
law also appear in other subjects such as environmental law, family law and company
law, as well as relating more directly to the study of criminal justice, evidence and
criminology. as such, a thorough understanding of criminal law is vital for law
students.
crime is an integral part of everyday life. it is a prominent feature in the news and is
a popular subject for fictional portrayal. most students commencing legal studies will
have some experience of crime whether directly, as a victim of crime, or indirectly
through exposure to media coverage. This means that most offences covered on
the syllabus such as murder, theft and rape will be familiar terms. This tends to
give students the impression that they know more about criminal law than they
do about other subjects on the syllabus. This can be a real disadvantage in terms
of the academic study of criminal law because it tends to lead students to rely on
preconceived notions of the nature and scope of the offences and to reach instinctive,

but often legally-inaccurate, conclusions. it is absolutely essential to success in
criminal law that you put aside any prior knowledge of the offences and focus on
the principles of law derived from statutes and cases. By doing this, you will soon
appreciate just how much difference there is between everyday conceptions of crime
and its actuality.
This revision guide will help you to identify and apply the law and it also provides
frequent reminders of the importance of abandoning preconceptions about the
offences. it is written to be used as a supplement to your course materials, lectures
and textbooks. as a revision guide, it should do just that – guide you through revision;
it should not be used to cut down on the amount of reading (or thinking) that you
have to do in order to succeed. criminal law is a vast and complex subject – you
should realise this from looking at the size of your recommended textbook (which,
incidentally, covers only a fraction of the criminal law that exists ‘out there’). it follows
that this revision guide could never be expected to cover the subject in the depth and
detail required to succeed in exams and it does not set out to do so. instead, it aims
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inTrODUcTiOn
to provide a concise overall picture of the key areas for revision – reminding you of
the headline points to enable you to focus your revision and identify the key points
that you need to know.
rEvISIon noTE
■■■■Do not be misled by the familiarity of the offences; learn each topic afresh and
focus on the legal meanings of the words that you encounter.
■■■■Do rely on this book to guide you through the revision process.
■■■■Do not rely on this book to tell you everything you need to know about criminal
law.
■■■■make sure you consult your own syllabus frequently to check which topics are
covered and in how much detail.
■■■■make use of your lecture notes, handouts, textbooks and other materials as
you revise as these will ensure that you have sufficient depth of knowledge.
■■■■Take every possible opportunity to practise your essay-writing and problem-
solving techniques; get as much feedback as you can.
■■■■Be aware that many questions in criminal law combine different topics.
selective revision could leave you unable to answer questions which include
reference to material that you have excluded from your revision.
Before you begin, you can use the study plan available on the companion
website to assess how well you know the material in this book and identify the
areas where you may want to focus your revision.

ix
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