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R v Dudley and Stephens

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Coordinates: 27°10′S 9°50′W / 27.167°S 9.833°W / -27.167; -9.833 (Mignonette)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1884 English criminal case

R v Dudley and StephensSketch of the Mignonette by Tom Dudley<br>CourtHigh Court of Justice (Queen's Bench Division)Full case name Her Majesty The Queen v Tom Dudley and Edwin Stephens Decided9 December 1884Citations[1884] EWHC 2 (QB)<br>(1884) 14 QBD 273 (DC)<br>49 JP 69<br>54 LJMC 32<br>15 Cox CC 624<br>33 WR 437<br>[1881–1885] All ER Rep 61<br>52 LT 107<br>1 TLR 118[1]

Case historyPrior actionFinding of the facts only: jury trial at Exeter AssizesSubsequent actionnoneCourt membershipJudges sitting<br>Lord Coleridge, Lord Chief Justice

Mr Justice Grove

Mr Justice Denman

Lord Pollock

Lord Huddleston

Case opinionsLord Coleridge, Lord Chief JusticeKeywordsMurder<br>Killing and eating flesh of human being under pressure of hunger<br>Necessity<br>Special verdict<br>Certiorari<br>Offence on the high seas<br>Jurisdiction of the High Court

[2]<br>R v Dudley and Stephens (1884) 14 QBD 273, DC is a leading English criminal case which established a precedent throughout the common law world that necessity is not a defence to a charge of murder. The case concerned survival cannibalism at sea following a shipwreck and the question of whether killing someone is acceptable if one's own survival is at stake.[3]

In 1884, the four-man crew of the wrecked yacht Mignonette were cast adrift in a small lifeboat without provisions. After nearly three weeks at sea, and with little hope of rescue, two of the crew, Tom Dudley and Edwin Stephens, decided that in order to save their own lives they would need to kill and eat the ship's 17-year-old cabin boy Richard Parker, who by that time had fallen seriously ill after drinking seawater. The defendants were found guilty and were sentenced to the statutory death penalty, though with a recommendation of mercy. They were released soon after the conviction.

The case marked the culmination of a long history of attempts by the law, in the face of a bank of public opinion sympathetic to famished castaways, to outlaw the custom of cannibalism (cases of which were little publicised until after the death of perpetrators) and it became a legal cause célèbre in late 19th-century Britain, particularly among mariners.

Facts<br>[edit]

The yacht Mignonette was a 19.43 net t., 52-foot (16 m) cruiser built in 1867.[4] It was an inshore boat, not made for long voyages.[5] Australian lawyer Jack Want purchased it in 1883 for leisure.[4] The vessel could at decent cost be transported to Australia by sailing, but its size and the 15,000-mile (24,000-km) voyage daunted attempts that year to find a suitable crew. It left Southampton on 19 May 1884 bound for Sydney with a crew of:

Captain Dudley, commander of the Mignonette<br>Tom Dudley (1853–1900),[6] the captain;

Edwin Stephens (1847–1914);[7]

Edmund Brooks (1846–1919);[8] and

Richard Parker (c.1867–1884) the cabin boy. Parker was 17 years old and an inexperienced seaman.[9]

On 5 July, Mignonette was running before a gale, around 1,600 miles (2,600 km) northwest of the Cape of Good Hope. The vessel was not struggling and Dudley gave the order to heave to so that the crew could enjoy a good night's sleep. As the manoeuvre was completed, and Parker was sent below to prepare tea, a wave struck and washed away the lee bulwark.

Dudley instantly realised that the yacht was doomed and ordered the single 13-foot (4 m) lifeboat to be lowered. The lifeboat was of flimsy construction, with boards only 0.25 inches (6 mm) thick and was holed in the haste to get it away. Mignonette sank within five minutes of being struck and the crew abandoned ship for the lifeboat, managing only to salvage vital navigational instruments along with two tins of turnips and no fresh water.[10] Theories abound of the structural inadequacies of Mignonette that could not withstand the onslaught of a gale.[11]

Dudley managed to improvise a sea anchor to keep the lifeboat headed into the waves and maintain her stability. Over the first night, the crew had to fight off a shark with their oars. They were around 700 miles (1,100 km) from the nearest land, Saint Helena or Tristan da Cunha.[11] Dudley kept the first tin of turnips until 7 July when its five pieces were shared among the men to last for two days. On or around 9 July, Brooks spotted a turtle, which Stephens dragged on board. This yielded about three pounds (1.4 kg) of meat each plus the bones, which, along with the second tin of turnips, lasted until 15 or 17 July. They were unable to drink its blood after it became contaminated with seawater. The crew failed to catch any rainwater and by 13 July, with no other viable source of liquid, they began to drink their own urine....