Introduction
A recent Supreme Court decision examined the issue of causality
arising from a road traffic accident.(1) According
to the appellant, he had become dizzy unexpectedly and lost control
of his vehicle causing it to hit a ditch. This resulted in his
passenger, who suffered from heart problems, sustaining injuries.
The passenger was admitted to hospital as a precaution. His
condition deteriorated and he died 30 days after the accident. The
report by the forensic practitioner who carried out the post-mortem
examination recorded "longitudinal cardiomyopathy, resulting
from an old road traffic accident" as one of the causes of
death.
Facts
The first-instance court found the defendant guilty and
convicted him of causing death by want of precaution or
carelessness,(2) and of driving a motor vehicle
under the influence of fatigue in a way that impaired his ability
to drive safely.(3) On the basis of Attorney
General v Kyriakou Antoniou,(4) which
