“Scaring a child or sick person so badly that they die can be against the law.”
You cannot be held criminally responsible for causing someone’s death just by influencing their mind. This means you can’t be charged with killing someone only by affecting their thoughts or feelings. However, there are two exceptions to this rule:
If you purposely frighten a child who is younger than 16 years old, and this leads to their death.
If you purposely frighten a sick person, and this leads to their death.
Also, you cannot be held criminally responsible if someone dies because of a disorder or disease that comes from influencing their mind. But again, there are the same two exceptions:
If you purposely frighten a child under 16, and they develop a disorder or disease that leads to their death.
If you purposely frighten a sick person, and they develop a disorder or disease that leads to their death.
In these cases, you could be held responsible for the person’s death, even though you only influenced their mind.
“You can be responsible for someone's death if you speed up their dying, even if they were already sick.”
Part 8
Crimes against the person
Homicide
163Killing by influence on the mind
No one is criminally responsible for the killing of another by any influence on the mind alone, except by wilfully frightening a child under the age of 16 years or a sick person, nor for the killing of another by any disorder or disease arising from such influence, except by wilfully frightening any such child as aforesaid or a sick person.
