What is duress by threats?

Duress by threats is a defence where the defendant commits an offence because they were threatened with death or serious injury if they refused.

State the two-stage test for duress.

R v Graham (1982) asks whether the defendant was compelled to act because they reasonably believed they faced death or serious injury, and whether a sober person of reasonable firmness sharing their characteristics would have responded in the same way.

Against whom must the threat be directed?

The threat may be against the defendant, a member of their immediate family, or a person for whose safety the defendant would reasonably regard themselves as responsible.

What is the effect of voluntarily joining a violent criminal gang?

R v Hasan (2005) held that the defence is unavailable where the defendant foresaw or ought to have foreseen the risk of being compelled to commit offences by those they associated with.

WJEC A-Level Law 603-1978-1

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Criminal Law: Defences

Duress by threats

3 things to know
A2 Units 3 and 4

Overview

Duress by threats, two-stage test for duress and threat will support duress.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

What kind of threat will support duress?

Key term

Must the threat be one of immediate harm?

Key term

To which offences is duress not available?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is duress by threats?
Model answer
Duress by threats is a defence where the defendant commits an offence because they were threatened with death or serious injury if they refused.
2
State the two-stage test for duress.
Model answer
R v Graham (1982) asks whether the defendant was compelled to act because they reasonably believed they faced death or serious injury, and whether a sober person of reasonable firmness sharing their characteristics would have responded in the same way.
3
What kind of threat will support duress?
Model answer
Only a threat of death or serious personal injury will do, so a threat to damage property, to reveal a secret or to cause financial ruin is insufficient.
4
Against whom must the threat be directed?
Model answer
The threat may be against the defendant, a member of their immediate family, or a person for whose safety the defendant would reasonably regard themselves as responsible.
5
Must the threat be one of immediate harm?
Model answer
The threat must be effective at the moment the crime was committed, and the defence fails if there was a safe avenue of escape the defendant could reasonably have taken.
6
What is the effect of voluntarily joining a violent criminal gang?
Model answer
R v Hasan (2005) held that the defence is unavailable where the defendant foresaw or ought to have foreseen the risk of being compelled to commit offences by those they associated with.

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Law Making in Wales and the UK

Delegated Legislation

Statutory Interpretation

Judicial Precedent

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AThe defendant owed the victim a duty of care and breached it.

BThe breach carried a reasonably foreseeable risk of death.

CThe breach caused the death.

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