Mens rea

Mens rea

Mens rea means guilty mind and consists of all the psychological aspects of a crime. It consists of intention and recklessness;

Intention can be either be direct intention or indirect intention. Direct intention is basically when the consequences of the crime is the defendant's aim or desire. In R v Mohan, it was held that the defendant show direct intention by accelerating his car towards the victim and running him over.


Indirect or oblique intention is when the consequences was not the defendant's aim or desire but was a foreseeable consequences of the crime. This type of intention is only considered in specific intent crimes like murder. In specific intent crimes,  the jury can infer oblique intention if they find that "the defendant foresaw death or serious harm as virtually certain consequences of his/her actions" as in R v Nedrick and R v Woolin.  In R v Woolin, the court held that the defendant foresaw the baby's head to hit something by throwing him across the room.

This rule is also upheld in R v Matthews and Alleyane where the court held that the defendants had indirect intention by throwing the victim on a river even if they know he cannot swim.

Recklessness is where "the defendant foresaw a risk of harm and took the risk anyway" as in R v Cunningham.