Elliot v C [1983] 1 WLR 939

Court: Divisional Court

Facts: D, a 14-year-old girl with low intelligence, entered a shed, lit a fire to keep warm, and accidentally caused significant damage. She was charged with arson. The issue before the court was whether she could be found reckless under the Caldwell objective recklessness test, despite her lack of appreciation of the risk due to her limited mental capacity.

Held: The court applied the objective test for recklessness established in Caldwell and convicted D. The court held that D’s failure to appreciate the risk was irrelevant because the risk would have been obvious to a reasonable person. Her limited intelligence did not exempt her from the objective recklessness standard.

💡Levelup: This case demonstrated the harshness of the Caldwell recklessness test when applied to vulnerable defendants, such as young people or those with limited mental capacity. It was one of the key cases leading to the eventual overruling of Caldwell in R v G & Another.