Automatism, Essay Example

Automatism

Automatism is an unusual defence to criminal responsibility in that it applies to actions of the accused caused by a failure of the mind. This is distinct from the defence of insanity which is based on a disease of the mind. The important element is that the defendant is not aware of his or her actions due to an external factor. Lord Denning has defined this defence as, “an act which is done by the muscles without any control by the mind, such as a spasm, a reflex action or a convulsion, or an act done by a person who is not conscious of what he is doing, such as an act done whilst suffering from concussion or whilst sleep-walking.” (Allen 2007: 140) What is required is that the defendant’s brain is not controlling his actions at all. It is not sufficient that his limbs might be acting imperfectly while he is still able to respond to his brain signals.

Examples of cases where the defence of automatism was successfully pleaded was R v Quick [1973] 3 WLR 26. In this case the defendant who was a nurse charged with attacking one of his patients, successfully claimed automatism on the grounds that his hypoglycaemia triggered the attack. In R v T [1990] Crim LR 256 a defendant who committed a robbery and assault was successfully able to utilize the defence of automatism, on the grounds that at the time of the offence, she was in a dissociative state, suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by the external factor of having been raped. (E-Law Resources)

Bibliography

Allen, M. (2007) Textbook on Criminal Law Oxford, Oxford University Press

Non Insane Automatism, E-Law Resources [online] available at http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Non-insane-automatism.php  accessed on August 8^th 2011