Criminal Law problem question

. Gabrielle keeps quiet about the fact that she had been flirting with David through fear of what Alfie will do, however she realises that she likes David and that he would probably treat her far better than Alfie does. Over the following few days Gabrielle and David exchange friendly messages on Facebook. Unknown to Gabrielle, Alfie secretly checks her messages and finds the ones from David. He is furious and calls Gabrielle lots of names including saying that she is “a filthy and a whore”; he then grabs her by the throat and tries to strangle her although he stops before she passes out. Gabrielle promises not to contact David again. After Alfie has gone to bed, Gabrielle stews on what has happened and, afraid of what Alfie might do when he wakes up the next morning, she gets a kitchen knife in the middle of the night and stabs Alfie to death whilst he is asleep.

Gabrielle is charged with the murder of Alfie. Advise her.

I'm not sure what level of education this relates to (eg university) but from my A Level Law studies, this looks like Gabrielle could plead the defence of loss of control based on the fear trigger - I assume the question would want you to discuss whether she would be eligible for the defence?

im in 1 year of LLB this is a problem question of 1000 words.i just need a structure what to write in introduction and what to write in main body and conclusion.can you guide me?im freaking out

. Gabrielle keeps quiet about the fact that she had been flirting with David through fear of what Alfie will do, however she realises that she likes David and that he would probably treat her far better than Alfie does. Over the following few days Gabrielle and David exchange friendly messages on Facebook. Unknown to Gabrielle, Alfie secretly checks her messages and finds the ones from David. He is furious and calls Gabrielle lots of names including saying that she is “a filthy and a whore”; he then grabs her by the throat and tries to strangle her although he stops before she passes out. Gabrielle promises not to contact David again. After Alfie has gone to bed, Gabrielle stews on what has happened and, afraid of what Alfie might do when he wakes up the next morning, she gets a kitchen knife in the middle of the night and stabs Alfie to death whilst he is asleep.

Gabrielle is charged with the murder of Alfie. Advise her.

Firstly i recommend watching this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guQ7ognh6GI and great channel

basic structure i would go with is :

1. Define murder ... "unlawful killing of any person under the Queen's peace with malice aforethought"
Actus reus: "Any conduct causing the death of a person under the queens peace. (a.k.a the unlawful killing)
MENS REA: intention by that conduct to kill or cause GBH (grievous bodily harm =serious harm also)
Cunningham 1982 case (mens rea of murder remains this definition)
If Gabrielle is convicted of murder she will be sentenced to a mandatory life sentence.

2. Explain the facts(legal issues) of the problem question further.
HOWEVER....
From the facts of the case we see Gabrielle could have a partial defence to murder, that could lead a to a lesser crime than murder, being voluntary manslaughter.
Voluntary manslaughter = D satisfies both the actus reus and mens rea of murder but has a partial defence which reduces liability from murder to manslaughter.

In this case Gabrielle could argue the partial defence of loss of self control as set out in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (section54) as defined as "D kills while out of control owing to fear of serious violence or a justifiable sense of being seriously wrong". Furthermore in section 54(1)(b) states D should not be convicted of murder "if the loss of self control had a qualifying trigger". We can draw from the facts that Alfie caused A.B.H (actual bodily harm) to Gabrielle which later on made her so fearful.

section 54(c) - a person of D's sex, age (blabla same characteristics of D..) might have reacted in same way...

Also mention despite lapse of time - it is still considerably short. (Longer the time it took to react, less of a defence). section 54(2) it does not matter whether or not the loss of self control was sudden. MENTION Ahluawalia case because similar facts.

Conclude - likely to get voluntary manslaughter charge? most likely yes.


do a bit more research yourself for more cases, possibly academic reports to get those higher marks.
Might have missed things out but yeah good luck

thank you so much.one last thing.can you tell me how to start my introduction and what to write in it?