Criminal law

The consumption of alcohol before a defendant acts with murderous intent and kills, cannot, without more, bring his actions within the concept of diminished responsibility.

However, in the context of diminished responsibility, alcoholism is recognised as a disease which may fall within the ambit of s 2 of the Homicide Act 1957.

In deciding whether or not the defendant’s mental responsibility for his actions at the time of the killing was substantially impaired as a result of the syndrome, the jury should consider whether the defendant’s craving for alcohol was or was not irresistible, and whether his consumption of alcohol in the period leading up to the killing was voluntary (and if so, to what extent) or not.