R v. Dudley and Stephens
- Case
- R v. Dudley and Stephens
- Court
- Queen's Bench Division (England)
- Year
- 1884
- Area
- Criminal law / Defence of necessity
- Summary
Shipwrecked sailors killed and ate a cabin boy to survive. The Court rejected necessity as a defence to murder and convicted them, setting a defining limit on the necessity defence.
- Holding
Necessity is not a defence to murder. Killing an innocent person to preserve one's own life is unlawful, however dire the circumstances.