LANDMARK CASE

R v. Woollin

[1999] 1 AC 82 · House of Lords (UK) · Criminal law

At a glance

Citation: [1999] 1 AC 82
Court: House of Lords (UK)
Area of law: Criminal law
In one line: Intention can be found if death or serious injury was a virtually certain consequence and the accused appreciated it.

1 Facts

A father threw his baby in anger, causing death.

2 Issue

When can intention be inferred from foresight?

3 What the court decided

Intention can be found if death or serious injury was a virtually certain consequence and the accused appreciated it.

4 Why it matters

A leading case on oblique intention.

5 Think about it

How does Indian law treat knowledge versus intention?

6 Analyse it yourself

Read the full judgment from an official source or a law database, then brief it in seven steps: facts, issues, arguments, decision, ratio, obiter and significance. Always check the citation before you rely on it.

7 More cases on Criminal law

Abhayanand Mishra v. State of Bihar AIR 1961 SC 1698
Amish Devgan v. Union of India (2021) 1 SCC 1
Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab (1980) 2 SCC 684
Balwant Singh v. State of Punjab (1995) 3 SCC 214
Barendra Kumar Ghosh v. Emperor AIR 1925 PC 1
Basdev v. State of PEPSU AIR 1956 SC 488

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