Intention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Intention - Essay Example Intention is the thought process of the person who commits the crime in a determined and directed manner. It is the idea with which the person goes about committing the crime. Intention has been defined many times by the Court, and in all these cases the Court has looked up the meaning in an evolving manner. House of Lords in R v Moloney [1985] AC 905 defined intention as the following: â€Å"It is the foresight of a particular consequence and the desire to act or fail in order to give rise to those consequences†2 Understanding from the abovementioned definition, we infer that intention is not just the act of having a guilty mind, but goes much beyond it. It is the act of having a guilty mind along with the act of performing such necessary tasks, which are crucial to actuating the guilt, which is present in the mind. It has been considerably difficult to extract in the criminal case whether intention existed or not, however, it is pertinent to note that intention consisted of the entire act of committing the crime. It gives rise to the thought process and carries onwards until the criminal commits the criminal act. Intention is one of the â€Å"states of mind† which constitute the prerequisite mental state for  mens rea. It is the source of the guilty mind. ... Actus reus is the form of act which gives practice to the thought of mens rea. During a criminal trial the prosecution has to prove that both contingencies existed. It is not enough to prove that there was the existence of actus reus or mens rea in isolation. Both the contingencies have to follow one another. Foresight is an important ingredient of the concept of intention in criminal law. In the case of R v Belfon (1976) 3 All ER 46, the courts said that foresight should not be equated or confused with recklessness. While foresight consists of a planned thought process, which has an end and a beginning, recklessness is a random act coming out of nowhere, which ends up in an act deemed to be criminal in nature. Foresight and the act and will to follow that thought process are the final straw in the coffin for the accused. If the prosecution can prove that the act was committed with a proper bite of foresight and was not a random act in isolation then the prosecution stands to win the case. It is the prerogative of the prosecution to ascertain that intention was there throughout the commition of the act. The thought of mens rea has to be consistently proved, and even if in one of the situation it is proved by the defense counsel that the thought process of mens rea is missing then the courts cannot ascertain that the act deemed to be criminal was committed by the accused, and he stands to be evicted. It is this doubt, which has to be removed by the prosecution, and therefore it is imperative to say that foresight was consistently present while the act was being committed4. The case of R. Molony (1985) shall be analyzed to further understand the definition of intention. The case involved an argument between the son and his stepfather over who can shoot