R v Jordan

Facts

Jordan stabbed the deceased, who died in hospital of bronchial pneumonia after a penetrating abdominal wound. Fresh evidence showed that the death followed the mistaken administration of antibiotics, and was not the result of the stab.

Issue

Can medical treatment break the chain of causation?

Held

The conviction was quashed. The treatment, not the wound, was the cause of death.

Principle

Abnormal treatment that replaces the wound as the cause of death is a new intervening act.

Why it matters

Smith is the ordinary case, where even bad treatment leaves the wound as an operating cause. Jordan is the exception.

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