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- at the time of the killing the defendant was suffering an `abnormality of mind', and
- the abnormality led to the fatal act, and
- the abnormality was such as to substantially reduce the ability of the defendant to take responsibility for his actions.
In practice it is necessary to get medical evidence in support of such a claim. Even then the prosecution may seek a ruling of insanity rather than dimished responsibility because, even though a defendent who is discharged by reason of insanity is not convicted of anything, he can be ordered to be detained for psychiatric treatment. A successful plea of diminished responsibility could result in a short prison sentence, followed by unsupervised release.
That diminished responsibility exists at all as a defence is probably because murder carried a mandatory death penalty until 1963.
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