Criminal Law Defences - Duress

A lecture for law students studying criminal law in England and Wales. In particular there is a focus on the defence of duress. Since the case of R v Hasan [2005] this is split into seven stages: 1)Threat of death/serious injury 2) Threat made against D/someone close to him 3) D’s response to the threat must be reasonable 4) The crime committed must be as a direct result of the threat 5) No evasive action possible (e.g. police) 6) Subjected to the threat involuntarily 7) Duress is unavailable for treason, murder and attempted murder. We also look at a number of important cases in this area such as Quayle [2005], Howe [1987], Graham [1982], Bowen [1996], Abdul-Hussain [1999], Sharp [1987], Fitzpatrick [1977], Purdy (1946), Steane [1947], M'Growther (1746) and Jones (2005).