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Decision to Charge

Once the Police have completed their investigations, they will refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service for advice on how to proceed. We will then make a decision on whether a suspect should be charged, and what that charge should be.

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Prosecuting Homicide

Murder and manslaughter are two of the offences that constitute homicide.

Manslaughter can be committed in one of three ways:

  1. killing with the intent for murder but where there is provocation, diminished responsibility or a suicide pact.
  2. conduct that was grossly negligent given the risk of death, and resulted in death.
  3. conduct, taking the form of an unlawful act involving a danger of some harm, that caused death.

With some exceptions, the crime of murder is committed, where a person:

  • of sound mind and discretion (i.e. sane):
  • unlawfully kills (i.e. not self-defence or other justified killing)
  • any reasonable creature (human being)
  • in being (born alive and breathing through its own lungs)
  • under the Queen's Peace
  • with intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm.

There are other specific homicide offences, for example, infanticide, causing death by dangerous driving, and corporate manslaughter.

Find out more about prosecuting homicide

Home » News Centre » Press Releases » DPP decides no charges following death of Simon Murden

DPP decides no charges following death of Simon Murden

03/10/2006

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdonald, QC, has decided that no officers from Humberside Police should face any criminal charges over the death of Simon Murden, who was shot dead on the A63 near Hull in March, 2005.

Mr Macdonald said: "First of all, I would like to express my condolences to Simon Murden's family for their terrible loss. This case is of the utmost gravity and sensitivity, principally to Simon's bereaved family but also, of course, to the officers who were investigated, to police officers more widely, and to the public at large. I have given every aspect of the case, and all the available relevant evidence, the most careful consideration before reaching my decision.

"At the time that this tragic event occurred, Simon was acting in an unpredictable manner, carrying a form of weaponry that was capable of inflicting fatal injuries, and moving determinedly towards an area where there were members of the public. Even after initial baton rounds were fired, it was clear that he was determined to carry on towards the public. The officers who shot him have said that they honestly and genuinely believed that in those circumstances, force was necessary to protect themselves and others from lethal harm.

"I have seen the items that Simon was carrying and, having seen those items, I do not believe that the prosecution could disprove the officers' assertions that they honestly and genuinely believed them to pose a real danger and that it was necessary for them to attempt to stop Simon by the use of baton rounds.

"Having failed to stop him with the baton rounds, the threat remained the same. I can only conclude that, in those circumstances, their resort to the use of firearms was reasonable in the context of the law of self-defence.

"It follows from this that I do not believe that the prosecution could satisfy a jury beyond reasonable doubt that the officers were not lawfully acting in defence of themselves and/or others. I am therefore led to the inevitable conclusion that there is not a realistic prospect of convicting either officer of a charge of murder, or any other offence."

  1. Simon Murden was killed on 22 March 2005. About 6am he left the family home in his father's van and was reported by other drivers driving the wrong way along the A63 dual carriageway near Hull. Alerted by a call from Simon Murden's father, armed police response vehicles were deployed. The van was in collision with another vehicle after which Simon was seen walking alongside the road by two police officers, who believed he was carrying actual, or potential, weapons. He was walking towards a petrol filling station where there were members of the public. The officers fired baton rounds, but he appeared to continue towards the filling station. He was shot and killed by a combination of bullets from the guns of the two officers.
  2. A file of evidence was referred to the CPS on 9 January 2006 following an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
  3. That file also considered the position of two other officers. The reviewing lawyer decided there was insufficient evidence against those officers for any criminal offence. The DPP agreed with that decision and did not review that aspect of the case further.
  4. For further details, contact CPS Press Office on 020 7796 8180.