R v McDonald

The appeal concerned a conviction for murder. The appellant, Mr McDonald, was found guilty of murdering LT, with whom he had a long-term relationship and two children. The prosecution did not dispute that the appellant caused LT's death, but the central issue on appeal was whether the trial judge's directions to the jury regarding the necessary intent for murder were legally sound.

The legal issues before the court were whether the trial judge had misdirected the jury on the requirement of contemporaneity between the appellant's intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm and the infliction of the fatal blows. Specifically, the court had to determine if the judge's directions allowed the jury to find the appellant guilty of murder if an intention to cause grievous bodily harm was formed at any point during a series of assaults, rather than requiring that intention to be present at the time of the specific blows that caused death. The court also had to consider whether, if a misdirection occurred, it resulted in a substantial miscarriage of justice, allowing for the application of the proviso to dismiss the appeal.

The court found that the trial judge's directions were indeed wrong in law. The judge had incorrectly directed the jury that the relevant time for assessing intention extended over a period encompassing multiple blows and the intervals between them. This allowed for the possibility that an intention to cause grievous bodily harm formed at any point during the assaults would suffice, irrespective of whether that specific blow contributed to the fatal outcome. However, the court applied the proviso to dismiss the appeal. This was because the court was satisfied, on the entirety of the evidence, that no substantial miscarriage of justice had occurred. The court reasoned that the evidence left no room for doubt that the appellant intended to cause grievous bodily harm, the jury had necessarily concluded this, and the general directions given to the jury had correctly emphasised the need for contemporaneity of intention with the fatal blows.

The appeal was dismissed.