The Queen v. McNaghten
ONE day in January, 1843, Sir Robert Peel’s private secretary was shot in the street by an apparently respectable young Scot, Daniel McNaghten. Drummond died, and McNaghten was tried for murder. As his trial proceeded it became clear that McNaghten suffered from delusions of persecution — he thought the Tories followed him everywhere he went and had destroyed his health. The trial was stopped and McNaghten sent to an asylum for the insane. Public reaction to this decision was one of furious indignation, and the whole matter was debated in the House of Lords. It was decided that the judges should be asked to define the law on the criminal responsibility of the insane, and this they did in the form of answers to five questions. These are the famous McNaghten Rules, which, more than 100 years after they were written, are still the test of criminal responsibility in English courts. They are also frequently a centre of controversy in discussions on punishment for murder. The story of "The Queen Against Daniel McNaghten" is told in the first of four BBC programmes on Laws and _ Liberties (already heard from 2YC and 4YC), which will be broadcast from 3YC on October 9 and 1YC on October 12.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 896, 5 October 1956, Page 19
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209The Queen v. McNaghten New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 896, 5 October 1956, Page 19
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