Albert and Bruce are university students living in the same hall of residence. Each of them is attracted to Celia, another student in their hall. Celia is not remotely attracted to either Albert or Bruce, but has flirted with them in the past and then laughed about it afterwards with her friends. Albert and Bruce have each formed the view that Celia would be ‘down for a threesome’ with them (i.e. that she would engage in sexual activity with them at the same time). They meet one evening in Albert’s bedroom and confirm that they will go and have sexual intercourse with Celia together that night. Indeed, this crystallizes a plan they had been messaging each other about on social media earlier in the day. Ultimately, they concur that they will have sexual intercourse with Celia ‘whether she is up for it or not’, so decide that Albert will take a penknife with him, ‘just in case’. Before they leave Albert’s bedroom, Albert drinks most of a bottle of whisky, but Bruce decides to stay sober and not drink any alcohol at all. When they arrive at Celia’s bedroom she is horrified by their proposal and makes it clear that she does not desire sexual intercourse with either Albert or Bruce – whether separately or together. On hearing this, Albert pushes Celia onto her bed and Bruce assists by holding her down. As he does so, Bruce remembers that Albert has the penknife and will use it against Celia, if necessary. Albert duly produces the penknife and uses it to subdue Celia, stabbing her twice in the thigh. Celia begins bleeding profusely from her wound. On seeing the blood, Albert and Bruce run off without engaging in sexual intercourse with Celia. Many hours later, she is discovered dead by a friend. It transpires that Celia suffers from severe hemophilia, a rare condition which impairs the body’s ability to make blood clots. Consequently, after Albert and Bruce left her bedroom, she bled to death. Both Albert and Bruce are arrested. In their police interviews, Bruce admits that he was aware that Albert gets violent when he drinks alcohol and that he had stabbed someone with the same penknife in a pub brawl last year. Albert claims that he was so drunk that he ‘blanked out’ and cannot remember stabbing Celia.- Advise Albert and Bruce as to their liability, if any, for criminal offences, including the use, if any, of criminal defenses. – Within your answer, you should also critically discuss – with reference to legal authority and academic commentary – at least ONE area of potential liability where you think English criminal law is unsatisfactory.
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