Summary

The case of Ann and Billy involves issues of sexual violence. It is evident that Billy has been abusing Ann after taking alcohol in a local bar. The wife has suffered from severe injuries for the past ten years. However, she was reluctant to report the matter to the police. Instead, she went to the hospital for treatment on several occasions. Besides, Ann wanted to minimize the adverse effects that her decision could have on her children. However, one Saturday night Ann decided to burn Billy’s bed after being beaten. This was after she took all her children out of the house. She ended up killing Billy since she could not control her emotions anymore. She was later prosecuted and charged with murder. Ann opposed the judge’s decision and decided to appeal against the ruling.

Grounds for appeal

Ann had good reasons for making this appeal because the judge made an error. First, he did not allow the defense of diminished responsibility to apply in this case. From the reading, it is evident that Ann decided to kill Billy because of anger. Therefore, the judge did not consider the fact that Billy had been insulting Ann for a long time. The exclusion of this evidence made Ann feel that the decision was erroneous. Ann was also a first time offender which demonstrates that she was forced by circumstances to kill Billy. Therefore, the arbiter could have treated the matter as a case of manslaughter.

Arguments for those grounds

Ann was supposed to appeal since she never got a fair hearing the first time the case was heard. Therefore, she had to take such a decision in her quest to get justice.[1] The plea could also assist in determining whether the judge made an error or not. The grounds are justifiable since it gives the defendant a second chance to defend herself. As a result, the appeal court can rectify any mistake that the judge made while making the ruling.

Augments against those grounds.

However, there are several arguments against those grounds. First, Ann’s intentions of killing Billy were intentional. One may argue that it was the reason why she moved her children out of the house before carrying out the inhumane act. If her actions were out of annoyance, she could not have thought about the issue of removing the children from the house before burning it. Therefore, what she did is a crime punishable by the laws of the UK. Ann had the opportunity of reporting the matter to the police but instead refused to take any action. It shows that she could have prevented the murder if she could have taken appropriate action on time. Lastly, she had the option of exiting her marriage but decided to stay.

Relevant law, cases, and statutes

The English criminal law considers murder as wrong to the whole community and not an individual. Therefore, the parties in the case are between the state and the defendant. Murder is also considered to be a severe offense. It is where an individual kills another with the aim of causing severe injury or death. The punishment for murder in the UK is life-imprisonment since capital punishment was abolished. One of the prominent murder case in UK was when two police officers were convicted for killing Alice Ruggles. Therefore, Ann should also be jailed for intentionally killing her husband because her actions were deliberate.

Reference

Jefferson M, Criminal Law (Pearson Education UK 2015)

[1]Michael Jefferson, Criminal Law (Pearson Education UK 2015).

Do you need high quality Custom Essay Writing Services?