Murder and Penal Policy

321 Pages·1990·28.587 MB·English

by  Barry Mitchell (auth.)

MURDER AND PENAL POLICY
Murder and Penal Policy
Barry Mitchell
Barrister-at-Law,
Senior Lecturer in Law, Coventry Polytechnic
Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN 978-0-333-49639-8 ISBN 978-1-349-20745-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-20745-9
© Barry Mitchell 1990
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1990 978-0-333-49638-1
All rights reserved. For information, write:
Scholarly and Reference Division,
St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
First published in the United States of America in 1990
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mitchell, Barry, 1952-
Murder and Penal Policy/Barry Mitchell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-312-03994-3
I. Murder-England. 2. Life imprisonment-England. I. Title.
HV6535.G42E545 1990
365' .941-dc20 89-39640
CIP
Contents
List of Abbreviations
VI
List of Tables
Vll
Table of Cases viii
Table of Statutes
X
Acknowledgements
XI
Introduction Xll
PART I A LEGAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL
EXAMINATION OF MURDER
1 The Law: Present and Future 3
2 An Examination of Murder 40
3 Brief Sketches of the Cases 74
4 Future Definitions and Concepts of Murder 128
PART II THE MANAGEMENT OF LIFE-SENTENCE
PRISONERS
5 Life Imprisonment: Policy and Practice 139
6 Methodology 177
7 An Analysis of the Interviews and Prison Records 188
8 A Sample of the Interviews with Lifers 217
9 Some Thoughts and Suggestions of Managers and Staff 271
10 Conclusions and Implications 285
Awm~A ~
Appendix B 297
Bibliography 307
Index 309
v
List of Abbreviations
CLRC Criminal Law Revision Committee
CRC Control Review Committee
DPMS Directorate of the Prison Medical Service
LCJ Lord Chief Justice
LRC Local Review Committee
PRES Pre-Release Employment Scheme
RAG Research and Advisory Group
YCC Youth Custody Centre (known as a Young Offender
Institution by virtue of the Criminal Justice Act 1988)
yp Young Prisoners (or Young Offenders)
VI
List of Tables
2.1 Age of Defendants Convicted of Murder 44
2.2 Age of Defendants According to their Sex 45
2.3 Sentence According to Year of Conviction 57
2.4 Age of Victim of Murder 59
2.5 Relationship of Victim to Offender in Murder as
Compared with Homicide Generally 62
2.6 Method of Killing in Murder and Homicide Generally 64
2.7 Surrounding Circumstances or Apparent Motives
for Killing 65
2.8 Prior Readiness to Kill According to Surrounding
Circumstances 70
2.9 Time of Day When Fatal Act was Committed 70
2.10 Where the Fatal Act was Committed 71
7.1 Time Served in Custody Since Sentence Passed 189
7.2 Number of Penal Establishments in which Lifers Served 190
7.3 Extent of Detention in Category C and/or D Prisons 191
7.4 Cases Where Category C was Omitted According to
Year of Sentence 192
7.5 Lifers' Associates During Detention 198
7.6 Nature and Purpose of Educational and/or Vocational
Training Courses During Detention 201
7.7 Lifers' Views on the Value of the Pre-Release
Employment Scheme 202
7.8 Stage at Which Lifers Could Start to Consider the
Future 205
7.9 Stage at Which Lifers Could Begin to Consider the
Future by Previous Experience of Custody 207
vii
Table of Cases
Adams [1957) Crim. L.R. 365
Bateman (1925) 19 Cr. App. Rep. 8
Beer (1976) 63 Cr. App. R. 222
Belfon (1976) 63 Cr. App. R. 59.
Bell [1985) 2 N.S.W.L.R. 466
Blaue (1975) 3 All E. R. 446
Brown [1972) 2 Q.B. 229
Burke (1983) 2 N.S.W.L.R. 93
Byrne (1960) 3 All E. R. 1.
Cato (1976) 1 All E.R. 260
Cunningham (1982) A.C. 566
Davies (1975) 1 Q.B. 691
Dawson (1985) 81 Cr. App. R. 150
Director of Public Prosecutions v. Camplin (1978) 1 All E.R. 1236
Director of Public Prosecutions v. Newbury and Jones (1977) A.C.
500
Director of Public Prosecutions v. Smith (1961) A.C. 290
Duffy (1949) 1 All E.R. 932n.
Dyson (1908) 2 K.B. 454
In re Findlay (1985) A.C. 318
Gittens (1984) Q.B. 698
Goodfellow (1986) 83 Cr. App. R. 23
Gray v. Barr (1971) 2 All E.R. 949
Hancock and Shankland (1985) 3 W.L.R. 1014 (C.A.)
(1986) 2 W.L.R. 357 (H.L.)
Hennigan (1971) 55 Cr. App. Rep. 262
Hyam v. Director of Public Prosecutions (1974) 2 All E.R. 41
Jordan (1956) 40 Cr. App. Rep. 152
Kong Cheuk Kwan v. R. (1985) 82 Cr. App. R. 18
Lawrence (1982) A.C. 510
People v. Lewis 124 Cal 551 (1899)
Malcherek, Steel (1981) 2 All E.R. 422
Moloney (1985) 2 W.L.R. 648
Nedrick (1986]1 W.L.R. 1025
Pagett (1983) 76 Cr. App. R. 279
Pitts (1842) C & M 284
R v. Secretary of State for the Home Department. ex parte
vm
Table of Cases IX
Handscomb and others (1987) 131 S.J. 326
Seymour (1983) 77 Cr. App. R. 215
Smith [1959] 2 All E.R. 193
Southern Portland Cement Ltd v. Cooper [1974] A.C. 623
Steane [1947] K.B. 997
Stone and Dobinson [1977] Q.B. 354
Tandy [1988] Crim. L.R. 308
Vickers [1957] 2 Q.B. 664
White [1910] 2 K.B. 124
Table of Statutes
Children and Young Persons Act 1933.
- section 53(1) and (2)
Criminal Justice Act 1967
- sections 8 and 61
Criminal Justice Act 1982
- sections 8(1) and (2) and 12(7)
Homicide Act 1957
- sections 2(1), 3 and 4
Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965
- section 1(1) and (2)
Road Traffic Act 1972
- section 1
X