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R v Cunningham (1957)

Last modified: Thu Feb 23 16:37:37 2006

This case ([1957] 2 All ER 412) formed the basis of the definition of Recklessness in charges of, for example, criminal damage, until it was extended by RVCaldwell1982. The accused was charged under s.23 of the OffencesAgainstThePersonAct1861, which covers the malicious or reckless administration of poison. In this case the poison was gas, released when the accused attempted to tear a gas meter off the wall in order to steal money from it. The Court of Appeal held that `maliciousness' implied an intention to bring about some harm to the victim, and this was not demonstrated. However, a charge based on recklessness could be upheld because a reasonable person should have been able to forsee that breaking a gas meter was likely to cause harm, and it was reasonable to infer that the accused was aware of this.

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