It was previously a requirement that death occur within a year and a day after the date on which the person received the injury, however that has been abolished in NSW.
Douglas Crabbe was convicted of murder when he drove a truck into a pub in which he knew it was highly likely that people would be killed.
[11] In R v Faure the Victorian Court of Appeal described "probable" as meaning "a substantial, or real and not remote, chance, whether or not it is more than 50 per cent".
[13] As long as one of these above mental states is present, and given that the test of causation is satisfied, the intended method of death becomes irrelevant.
[9] For example, in Royall v R, the High Court upheld a murder conviction obtained when a woman died from jumping out of a window to avoid an attempt from her partner to inflict grievous bodily harm upon her.
[16] The Court will use discretion in determining the sentence and will only impose life imprisonment if "the level of culpability in the commission of the offence is so extreme" and it is in the interest of “retribution, punishment, community protection and deterrence”.
[18] Where the prosecution cannot establish the necessary actus reus and mens rea elements of murder beyond reasonable doubt, the accused may be convicted of manslaughter.
[19] In June 2018, both houses of the Parliament of New South Wales unanimously passed and the Governor of New South Wales signed an urgent bill without amendments called the Crimes Amendment (Publicly Threatening and Inciting Violence) Bill 2018[20] to repeal the vilification laws within the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 and replace it with criminal legislation with up to an explicit 3-year term of imprisonment within this Act.