Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Murder definition

What does Murder mean? In practice, murder describes the most serious criminal homicide: unlawfully causing the death of another person with the necessary intent. Across the UK and Ireland it is a common law offence, refined by case law and statute. England & Wales and Northern Ireland: the actus reus is causing death; the mens rea (historically “malice aforethought”) is an intention to kill or to cause grievous bodily harm. Oblique intent may suffice where death or serious harm was a virtual certainty and appreciated. Defences include self-defence. Partial defences reducing liability to manslaughter include diminished responsibility, loss of control, and suicide...

Entrapment, Exclusion of Evidence and Stays for Abuse: R v Looseley, undercover policing, RIPA compliance and private citizen entrapment (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

English law recognises no formal defence of entrapment; however, it is treated as an abuse of the court’s process when state agents entice a person into unlawful conduct and then attempt to prosecute them for it. The House of Lords has held that, although entrapment is not a substantive defence in English law, where a defendant can establish entrapment, the court may stay the case as an abuse of process or exclude the evidence. Where the state’s conduct threatens the rule of law, it would be unjust to put the defendant on trial at all. As a matter of policy, when a defendant has been subjected to such unfairness, the integrity of the criminal justice system depends upon their not being tried at all. State-created offending is improper and unacceptable, and bringing a prosecution in those circumstances would seriously affront the public conscience. The courts have determined that, in such situations, the ends do not necessarily or invariably justify the means. This is different from a case in which an accused is simply given the opportunity to commit an offence that they already intended to commit...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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