Decided 1 January 1956 End date January 1, 1956 | ||
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Full case name R v Jordan (James Clinton) Court Court of Appeal of England and Wales Similar R v Cheshire, R v Blaue, Fagan v Metropolitan Police Co, R v Woollin, R v Askov | ||
R v Jordan (1956) 40 Cr App R 152 is an English criminal law case establishing that exceptional medical negligence may constitute a novus actus interveniens, capable of absolving a defendant of liability for any subsequent injury or death.
Contents
Facts
The appellant and three others – all serving members of the United States Airforce – became involved in a disturbance at a café in Hull, with the appellant stabbing a man named Beaumont, who was subsequently admitted to hospital. It was conceded by the defence that the appellant had stabbed Beaumont, but after uncovering medical evidence not available at trial, an appeal was lodged on the grounds that the medical treatment the victim had received was so negligent as to break the appellant's liability.
Judgment
Ordinarily, the circumstances and medical treatment following serious bodily harm are not relevant in establishing a defendant's liability for his acts. Where the original wound or injury caused by the defendant is still an 'operating cause' of death, negligent medical treatment will not constitute a novus actus interveniens.
However, in the judgment of Hallett J, it was conceded that the death of the victim was not "consequent upon the wound inflicted." Hallett summed up the fresh medical evidence as such:
The Court took the view that based on these facts – and that the original stab wound had healed – a reasonable jury would not be satisfied that the defendant's acts had been the material cause of the victim's death. As such, the conviction was quashed.