Criminal Liability in John and Gill's Case: Legal Analysis and Relevant Cases

Assessment Information

This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes:

1. Demonstrate the ability to evaluate the theoretical principles underlying criminal law;

2. Utilise a wide range of specialist skills in order to analyse and evaluate the principles of criminal law and relevant case law as applied in practice;

3. Demonstrate an ability to evaluate the principles of criminal law and formulate responses to various hypothetical scenarios.

4. Demonstrate the ability to analyse and evaluate proposals for reform (where applicable) and to generate ideas.

This assignment is an individual assignment.

Please write an essay on the following problem-based question: 

John has a very bad relationship with his neighbour Gill. John has often asked Gill not to play loud music, as this compromises his rest. Not only has Gill never fulfilled John’s request, but she’s always been quite rude and scornful to him. 

One day, John sees a courier delivering Gill a brand-new stereo system, including a giant subwoofer. Gill notices John and smiles spitefully at him and says: “Party time!”. Irritated by Gill’s behaviour and afraid that the new stereo system will put an end to his sleep for good, John waits until Gill leaves to go to work and then breaks into her house carrying a big hammer. Once inside, he finds the subwoofer in Gill’s living room and smash it with multiple hits of his hammer making it completely useless. 

At that point, he hears the front door opening. Gill has come back sooner than expected due to a train strike. As soon as he sees Gill on the doorstep, John runs towards the door himself to try to escape. Seeing John running towards her with a hammer in his hand, Gill pushes him with her hands on his shoulders. The push is not strong enough to injure John, but it causes him to lose his balance and accidentally trip over the steps out of the door and falls down the stairs. During the fall, he violently hits his head on one of the steps and dies instantly. 

Discuss the criminal liability of John and Gill for any possible offence and any relevant legal issue, including (but not limited to) the availability of any defences. Support your analysis with adequate legal sources – cases and legislation – and academic materials – namely, books and journal articles.

Criteria for Assessment

When marking the coursework particular regard will be given to the following:

Problem-Based Question

Contents
• Knowledge and understanding of the relevant law
• Identification of relevant issues
• Identification and selection, through appropriate research, of relevant sources and materials
• Ability to explain and comment the relevant law and related theories

Structure
• Clear and logical organisation of the paper
• Ability to construct logical and coherent arguments

Presentation
• Appropriate use of legal language
• Accurate spelling, grammar and sentence construction
• Ability to write within set word limits (see below).

Word Count

The total word count is 2,000 words.

There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark for work exceeding the word limit by 10% or more.

How to submit your assessment

The assessment must be submitted, No paper copies are required. You can access the submission link through the module web.

• Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin. Please take care to ensure that you have fully submitted your work. 

• All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason (see below) will be given a mark of zero. 

• Extensions of up to two calendar weeks can only be given for genuine "force majeure" and medical reasons, not for bad planning of your time. Please note that theft, loss, or failure to keep a back-up file, are not valid reasons. The extension must be applied for on or before the submission date. You can apply for an extension by submitting an Examination/ Coursework Deferral/Extension Application Form. Application Forms along with the supporting evidence should go to the relevant Student Support Office. For a longer delay in submission a student may apply for a deferral.  

• Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.
• Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites.

Guidelines And Background To This Assignment

The University wants you to do your best. However, we know that sometimes events happen which mean that you can’t submit your coursework by the deadline – these events should be beyond your control.  If this happens, you can apply for an extension to your deadline for up to two weeks, or if you need longer, you can apply for a deferral, which takes you to the next assessment period (for example, to the resit period following the main Assessment Boards). You must apply before the deadline.

As part of your study you will be involved in carrying out research and using this when writing up your coursework. It is important that you correctly acknowledge someone else’s writing, thoughts or ideas and that you do not attempt to pass this off as your own work.  Doing so is known as plagiarism.  It is not acceptable to copy from another source without acknowledging that it is someone else’s writing or thinking. This includes using paraphrasing as well as direct quotations. You are expected to correctly cite and reference the works of others. The Centre for Academic Writing provides documents to help you get this right. If you are unsure, please visit www.coventry.ac.uk/caw.  You can also check your understanding of academic conduct by completing the Good Academic Practice quiz available on Moodle.

Moodle includes a plagiarism detection system and assessors are experienced enough to recognise plagiarism when it occurs. Copying another student’s work, using previous work of your own or copying large sections from a book or the internet are examples of plagiarism and carry serious consequences. 

Return of Marked Work

You can expect to have marked work returned to you within 15 working days for level 1 and 2, and 10 working days for level 3 and M level. If for any reason there is a delay you will be kept informed. Marks and feedback will be provided online. As always, marks will have been internally moderated only, and will therefore be provisional; your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed his / her review.