Odger's English Common Law

CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE: SPECIAL INTENT. 121
trade, and, as it appears, in the exercise of a supposed right ;
appears to me in this section to mean ' wantonly ' or ' causelessly.' " 1
' wilfully *
For one man to point at another a gun which he has good reason to
believe is not loaded is not criminal ; but to point at another a gun which
for all he knows is loaded, or is just as likely to be loaded as not, is criminal
if it is, in fact, loaded and the other person within range. 2
If a father is penniless aud therefore unable to procure food or clothing
for his children, he cannot be accused of criminal neglect. 3
A. unlawfully strikes B., but without any intention of killing him
or of doing him grievous bodily harm. But B. is suffering from heart
disease and dies in consequence of the blow. A. commits manslaughter,
although he was ignorant of the condition of B.'s health. But if A. had
only laid his hand gently on B. to attract his attention and by doing so
startled and killed him, A.'s act would be no offence at all.
(3) Special Intent and Guilty Knowledge.
In some cases, however, it is not sufficient to prove that
the prisoner did a criminal act and that he did it with mens
rea. The law requires a particular intent to constitute the
crime, such as an intent to do grievous bodily harm or an
intent to defraud creditors. In those cases it is not sufficient
to prove that the prisoner did the act ; the prosecutor must
go further and prove that he did it with the special intent
alleged. It is not enough to rely upon the ordinary mens rea,
which may be inferred from the mere fact that the prisoner
did the act. The jury must find the special intent, and to
enable them to do this they must take into consideration all
the surrounding circumstances—the means which he employed
to attain his end, the time and place selected for the com-
mission of the act, even the motives which actuated him and
induced him to commit the crime.
Thus, where a prisoner is indicted for the felony of wounding with intent
to do grievous bodily harm, the nature of the instrument used and the part
of the body wounded must especially be taken into consideration in
determining the precise nature and quality of the offence. If after con-
sidering these circumstances the jury are not satisfied that the prisoner
intended to do grievous bodily harm, they can find him guilty only of the
misdemeanour of unlawfully and maliciously wounding.
Again, a man cannot be convicted of burglary unless the jury are satisfied
1 Per Bramwell, B., in Smith v. Barnham (1876), 1 Ex. D. at p. 423.
2 R. v. Jonet (1874), 12 Cox, 628 ; and see Anon., pott, p. 277.
3 But see s. 12 (1) of the Children Act, 1908 (8 Edw. VII. c. 67) ; and see post,
p. 293.