R v Fenton (1830) 1 Lew CC 179

The defendant threw some stones down a mine shaft. This caused scaffolding to collapse and resulted in death of some miners.

Held:

The tort of trespass was sufficient to constitute an unlawful act for the purposes of constructive manslaughter.

NB. This position of the law was changed in R v Franklin 1883 where it was held that the act must be against criminal law as oppose to civil law to amount to an unlawful act for the purposes of manslaughter.

Back to lecture outline on Constructive Manslaughter