THIS PAPER IS NOT TO BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAMINATION HALLS

UNIVERSITY OF LONDON LA1010 ZB

DIPLOMA IN LAW/CertHE COMMON LAW

LLB
DIPLOMA IN THE COMMON LAW
BSc DEGREES WITH LAW

Criminal law

Wednesday 2 May 2018: 10.00 – 13.15

Candidates will have THREE HOURS AND FIFTEEN MINUTES in which to

answer the questions. Candidates must answer all parts of a question unless
otherwise stated.

PART TWO of the examination consists of both problem and essay questions
and is worth 75% of the marks. Candidates must answer THREE from the SIX
questions in PART TWO.

Permitted materials
Students are permitted to bring into the examination room the following
specified document: one copy of Core Statutes on Criminal law (Palgrave
Macmillan).

© University of London 2018

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PART TWO

1. Dennis decides to play some tricks on people at school. He puts itching

powder in Biffo’s underpants. Biffo scratches the area so severely that it
draws blood. Then Dennis substitutes the sugar in the sugar basin with
salt. Minnie feels ill all day after drinking salty tea. Dennis next spreads
butter on the floor of the toilets. When Pleg goes to the toilets, he slips
on the butter and bangs his head, losing consciousness momentarily.
Next Dennis inflates a paper bag and explodes it behind Ted who is on
a step ladder changing a light bulb. Ted falls off the step ladder in shock
and cuts his hand on the broken bulb. Finally, Dennis replaces Billy’s
insulin, which Billy self-injects for diabetes, with water. Later, when
driving home, Billy suffers hyperglycaemia which affects his vision
causing him to collide with another car, causing him cuts and bruises.

Discuss. DO NOT consider any possible liability under Section 23

Offences Against the Person Act (OAPA) 1861.

2. Femi lives with Sonya. Femi regularly forces Sonya to give him the
money which she earns working as a prostitute. He has beaten her and
sexually abused her on a number of occasions, particularly when he is
drunk. One evening, while cooking, Sonya hears Femi stumbling through
the front door, clearly intoxicated. Fearing that Femi will beat her up
again and force her to have sex with him, Sonya cuts her wrists. When
Femi sees what she has done, he taunts her, saying that she is a
pathetic attention seeker. Sonya reaches for the bread knife and throws
it at Femi. In trying to avoid the knife, Femi falls over and hits his head
on the floor, rendering him unconscious. Sonya runs out of the house
slamming the door saying, “that serves you right, you bully, I hope you
die.” The effect of slamming the door is to extinguish the flames on the
gas cooker. When Sonya returns Femi is dead, having been
asphyxiated by the gas.

Discuss Sonya’s potential liability for the murder of Femi and any
defences which may be available.

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3. Dolores returns to the car park where she has left her car to find that it
is boxed in by cars on either side. She can only enter her car by opening
the driver’s door and squeezing inside. She realises this creates a risk
of denting the red car parked to right of her car but thinks that so long as
she is particularly careful when getting into the car any damage will be
avoided. Dolores is wrong and the red car is dented. The red car to the
right and the blue car to the left are parked so close to Dolores’s car that
she cannot reverse out of the space without risking damage to one of
the cars. She decides to take that risk. Despite taking as much care as
possible, Dolores breaks the wing mirror of the blue car. Without
thinking, Dolores opens the door of her car without checking her mirror,
intending to inspect the damage. The door hits a cyclist, Valma, causing
damage to the cycle and serious injury to Valma.

Discuss Dolores’s possible criminal liability.

4. EITHER

(a) Critically evaluate the law of criminal attempts, giving suggestions

for reform.

OR

(b) Explain and discuss the law relating to joint enterprise liability.

5. EITHER

(a) Explain and critically evaluate the law of constructive

manslaughter giving suggestions for reform.

OR

(b) ‘By Sections 74-76 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 the thorny
problem of reconciling the rights and interests of complainant and
defendant has been largely overcome.’

Discuss.

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6. Aftab, finding he has no money for his bus fare, takes £5 from Erina, his
housemate’s wallet, leaving a note saying that he will repay it on his
return. Erina has told him on a previous occasion not to do this. When
he gets on the bus the driver tells him to pay later as the bus is running
late. Aftab gets off the bus without paying, reasoning that others would
have done the same. Later he spots a basket of apples on the street
outside a house. Above the basket is a sign saying. ‘I have too many
apples for my own use. Please take some but leave some for others.’
Aftab takes 50 apples leaving only three in the basket. He then goes to
a fruit and vegetable shop where he sells the apples to the owner. He
then buys some vegetables, using Erina’s £5 note. Next Aftab goes to
an ATM cash dispenser where he withdraws £5 to repay Erina, although
he knows he has no funds in his bank account to cover the withdrawal.
He returns home and puts the £5 back in Erina’s wallet. Erina sees him
do this and gets angry. She accuses Aftab of being a thief, to which he
replies “I’m not a thief. I gave you the money back. That is not theft and
anyway it is not dishonest.’ Erina replies “Well I think it is, since you knew
I wouldn't agree.”

Discuss. DO NOT discuss the law relating to handling stolen goods.

END OF PAPER

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