Criminal law worksheet with answers

In English law, a common assault (in the narrow sense) is committed when the defendant:

1. AActually applies unlawful force to the victim's body, however slight
2. BCauses the victim to apprehend immediate unlawful force
3. CCauses the victim serious bodily harm
4. DDamages the victim's property

An omission (failure to act) can lead to criminal liability when:

1. ANever, in any legal system
2. BAny person failed to help a stranger
3. CThe defendant had a legal duty to act
4. DThe defendant was asleep

Which sentence must a court impose on an adult convicted of murder in England and Wales?

1. AA fixed term of 10 years
2. BA suspended sentence
3. CA community order
4. DLife imprisonment

D attacks someone while sleepwalking. Following R v Burgess, the correct defence is:

1. ASelf-defence, because D was dreaming of an attack
2. BInsanity, because sleepwalking was caused by an internal factor
3. CNon-insane automatism, because sleep is natural
4. DInvoluntary intoxication, because D was not aware

D takes his own car from a garage without paying for repairs. Following R v Turner (No 2), D can be guilty of theft because:

1. AOwners who take back their own property are always acting dishonestly
2. BThe car was worth more after the repairs
3. CD intended to return the car later
4. DProperty belongs to anyone who has possession or control of it

D takes V's bag and is seen; a few seconds later D ties V up to escape. Following R v Hale, D is guilty of robbery because:

1. AAny force used on the victim within an hour of the theft automatically turns it into robbery
2. BThe bag was later recovered by the police
3. CAppropriation is a continuing act, so the force was used at the time of the theft
4. DTying up a victim is robbery even without theft

In R v Jordan (1956), the court held the chain of causation was broken because:

1. AThe victim had an unusually thin skull
2. BA second attacker stabbed the victim again in hospital
3. CThe victim refused a blood transfusion for religious reasons, which was unforeseeable
4. DThe medical treatment was "palpably wrong" and the wound had mainly healed

In R v Walkington (1979), D went behind a shop counter and opened a till. This was burglary because:

1. AEntering a part of a building as a trespasser is enough
2. BShops are treated as dwellings in law
3. CThe till contained money at the time
4. DD was carrying a weapon at the time