The principle of transferred Malice/transferred Mens rea

The Supreme Court has stated that a better description for transferred malice might be ‘transferred mens rea’. The term ‘transferred malice’ has been described as ‘a Misleading label’.

This article will refer to the principle as ‘transferred mens rea’. This principle becomes relevant where a criminal intention leads to an unintended outcome or harm. It may apply provided that the outcome or harm is the same kind as intended, even if the actual victim is not the same as the intended victim.

Latimer exemplifies the basic principle. D tried to assault V with his belt. He missed V and accidentally hit V2. D was found guilty of assault despite not having intended to hit V2. This reasoning was later applied in Mitchell, in which D assaulted V causing him to fall on V2. V2 was elderly and suffered a broken bone that led to her death in hospital. D was convicted of Manslaughter despite having had no intention to assault V2. The court held that it was not