Hyam v. Director of Public Prosecutions
House of Lords
[1974] 2 All E.R. 41
- Written by Craig Conway, LLM
Facts
Jealous that another woman was going to marry the man she loved, Hyam (defendant) went to the other woman’s home, poured gasoline through a mail slot in the front door, and ignited it. The woman escaped with one of her children, but two other children died in the fire. Hyam was charged with two counts of murder. At trial, Hyam argued that she did not intend to kill anyone. Instead, Hyam testified that she merely wanted the woman to leave the neighborhood. The trial judge instructed the jury that the necessary intent to convict Hyam was present if the defendant had knowledge that it was highly probable that the fire would cause death or serious bodily harm to the woman or the children. Hyam was convicted and she appealed, arguing that she should have been found guilty of manslaughter.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Hailsham, L.)
Dissent (Diplock, L.)
Dissent (Cross, L.)
Dissent (Kilbrandon, L.)
What to do next…
Here's why 803,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
