Criminal law worksheet with answers

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

In England and Wales, which body decides on charges in most serious cases and conducts public prosecutions?

1. AThe Magistrates' Association
2. BThe Home Office
3. CThe Crown Prosecution Service
4. DThe Law Commission

Which case is known for the "golden thread" that the prosecution must prove the defendant's guilt?

1. ACarlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co
2. BWoolmington v DPP
3. CR v Brown
4. DDonoghue v Stevenson

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

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

During a burglary, D has handed a knife to an accomplice. When someone arrives, D says "come on, let's go" and climbs out; the accomplice stabs the person. Following R v Becerra, D's withdrawal is:

1. ANot effective, because withdrawal must be timely and unequivocal and may need more than words once violence is imminent
2. BIrrelevant, because once an accessory has supplied a weapon, no later act of withdrawal can ever relieve them of liability
3. CEffective, because D left before the crime was completed
4. DEffective, because any words of withdrawal are always enough

D is present when a crime is committed but does nothing to help or encourage it. Following R v Clarkson, D is:

1. AAn accessory, because D could have called the police
2. BNot an accessory, because mere presence without intent to encourage is not enough
3. CThe principal, because D witnessed the whole crime
4. DAn accessory, because voluntary presence at the scene always amounts to encouragement

In R v G (2003), the House of Lords defined recklessness as:

1. AAwareness of a risk that it was unreasonable to take in the circumstances
2. BFailure to notice an obvious risk that a reasonable person would have seen
3. CIntention to cause harm
4. DAny careless behaviour

In R v Roberts (1971), a woman jumped from a moving car to escape a sexual assault and was injured. The court held the defendant liable unless her reaction was:

1. ATaken without first asking the defendant to stop the car and let her out
2. BCaused by her own panic and fear
3. CMore dangerous than staying in the car
4. DSo "daft" or unexpected that no reasonable person could have foreseen it