This is a paper that is focusing on the Betsy and Liam case scenarios on criminal law assignment. The paper also provides further cases to choose from in answering the assignment.
Betsy and Liam case scenarios on criminal law assignment
Answer ONE of the FOUR questions.
1. Betsy, a 12-year-old, decides to play a trick on her friend, Arnold, aged 14. She intends to scare Arnold by setting off a firework in the shed in her backyard. Betsy lights the firework and calls Arnold over to the shed. The firework is faulty and explodes. Arnold runs out screaming and unharmed, but the wooden shed is now on fire and burning. Betsy’s mother, Carla, comes running out of the house to see what has happened. Arnold has a history of playing pranks on Betsy. Carla assumes that it is Arnold who has caused the explosion. Carla is holding a knife which she was using to chop parsley and, upon seeing the burning shed, is furious. She screams, ‘I’m going to kill you, Arnold!’. Carla then chases Arnold around the backyard, holding the knife in her hand and waving it at him.
After a few minutes, Arnold turns suddenly in an attempt to change direction. Carla screams, ‘No, stop!’ but Arnold runs into the knife and is stabbed in the stomach and starts bleeding. Carla calls an ambulance immediately, but Arnold has a rare medical condition which makes any loss of blood very dangerous. The ambulance arrives as Arnold is slipping in and out of consciousness. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, Stacey, the paramedic, administers a drug to Arnold from which he suffers an allergic reaction and dies. The shed is completely destroyed.
Discuss.
2. Patty holds a grudge against Liam, her former friend, and also decides to kill him. She makes a letter bomb and posts it to Liam, thinking that no one else will be harmed. However, Liam has a cleaner named Olga, who attends his house every Wednesday afternoon.
The letter bomb arrives on Wednesday. Olga collects the post, including the letter bomb, and plans to give it to Liam. Olga, obviously, does not realise the post contains the bomb. However, she has her own reasons for wanting Liam dead; she has convinced Liam to leave her his fortune in his will. She intends to suffocate him and make it look as though he has choked on some food by accident. Olga places a pillow over Liam’s face and his arms start flailing. As she is doing this, Liam pushes over the package containing the letter bomb and it explodes.
It is, however, faulty and does not explode as planned. Instead of killing Liam outright, the letter bomb causes a fire that sets the curtains alight. Part of the explosion also hits Olga, who suffers severe burn injuries to one side of her face. Liam is unconscious from suffocation but still alive. An ambulance arrives and Liam and Olga are taken to hospital. Liam is in a vegetative state and after a week on life support, the doctors decide further treatment is futile. The life support system is goes off and Liam dies. Olga requires weeks of treatment for her burns.
Discuss.
The other questions are in the attachment below
