People v Burke and McArdle

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1940
• Date: 01 January 1940
• Court: Circuit Court

(Cir. Ct.),

The People

and

Burke and McArdle

Pedestrian killed by motor vehicle with totally defective brakes -Vehicle driven by servant of owner - Owner aware of defective condition of brakes - Whether an accessory before the fact.

• - Where the owner of a motor vehicle knows that the brakes of the vehicle are in a dangerous condition and with that knowledge instructs his servant to drive the vehicle upon the highway, and where the servant, driving with ordinary care, is involved in a fatal accident caused by the defect of which the owner is aware, the owner can rightly be convicted of being an accessory before the fact to manslaughter. R. v. Gaylor (7...