Facts
- G (Two boys, aged 11 and 12), set fire to newspapers, then left them to burn out near a rubbish bin, which was situated next to a supermarket
- The newspapers did not burn out, but set fire to the bin
- The bin fire spread to the supermarket, causing £1 million in damage
Issue
- Were the two boys guilty of recklessly causing criminal damage?
Decision
Reasoning
- The Caldwell recklessness test is incorrect
- Lord Bingham – recklessness requires a subjective test, buy generic xanax cheap whereby there must be a risk which the defendant is aware of, and that risk must not be reasonable to take
- The defendants were unaware of the risk, therefore were not recklessness and were not guilty of causing criminal damage
- Lord Bingham justified the approach with a ‘moral blameworthiness’ principle, whereby stupidity was not enough for a conviction
- This test for recklessness is universally applicable and not limited to criminal damage
