Ratio Decidendi
The doctrine of transferred malice: where the defendant intends to harm one person but accidentally harms another, the mens rea is transferred to the actual victim.
Facts
Latimer aimed a blow with his belt at a man in a pub. The belt bounced off and struck a woman standing nearby, causing serious injury.
Judgment Summary
The court held that Latimer was guilty of unlawfully wounding the woman. His intention to strike the man was transferred to the woman actually injured.
Key Quotes
"The prisoner must be held liable for the consequences of his act, even though those consequences were not intended by him."
— Lord Coleridge CJ
Subsequent Treatment
Good law
The classic authority on transferred malice. Confirmed in AG's Reference (No 3 of 1994) [1998].