Facts
- The defendant, and mentally handicapped 14-year-old, set fire to a house, killing one of the seven other occupants
Issue
- Was the death a virtual certainty?
Decision
- Yes
Reasoning
- Although the judge was incorrect to allow interview evidence gather inappropriately by police and the jury should have been reminded to look at all of the evidence, the conviction itself was not unsafe
- The case illustrated the utility of the R v Woollin [1999] virtual certainty direction
