Homicide and manslaughter
Manslaughter by reason of loss of control
Coroners and Justice Act 2009, ss.54–55 (partial defence); manslaughter at common law
England & Wales. Elements, mode of trial, maximum and defences — not a charging or outcome predictor.
- Triable
- Indictable only
- Maximum penalty
- Life imprisonment
Actus reus
- This is a partial defence to murder, not a free-standing offence. If it succeeds, the conviction is manslaughter (Coroners and Justice Act 2009, s.54(7)).
- D kills or is a party to the killing; D’s acts/omissions resulted from a loss of self-control; that loss had a qualifying trigger (s.55); and a person of D’s sex and age with a normal degree of tolerance and self-restraint, in D’s circumstances, might have reacted in the same or a similar way (s.54(1)).
Mens rea
- The Crown still has to prove murder (unlawful killing with malice aforethought) unless the partial defence is left and not disproved. Once raised, the Crown must disprove it (s.54(5)–(6)).
Defences
Not murder (deny killing / intent) · Loss of control with a qualifying trigger (fear of serious violence, or things said/done of an extremely grave character causing a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged — s.55) · Considered desire for revenge takes the defence away (s.54(4)) · Sexual infidelity is disregarded as a qualifying trigger (s.55(6)(c))
Sentencing Council
Sentencing Council guideline effective 01 November 2018. Offence range: 3 – 20 years’ custody.
At the police station
Take a chronology of the trigger and whether any cooling-off looks like considered revenge. We want a solicitor on a homicide allegation.
When to involve a rep or solicitor
Police station advice is free under legal aid and is not means-tested. For this allegation we would normally want a solicitor involved early.
Authoritative sources for this page
Statute plus Sentencing Council (and CPS where listed) are the two primary sources we used for mode of trial, maximum and elements. Case links are from our verified registry only.