Acts of a third party

Question 1

When will the act of a third party break the chain of causation?

Answer 1

The chain of causation may be broken where a third parties independent and voluntary act becomes the main cause of the harm.

Question 2

What happened in R v Pagett?

Answer 2

In R v Pagett the defendant used his girlfriend as a human shield during a police shootout, and she was killed by police fire.

The court held that the defendant remained liable because the police response was reasonably foreseeable.