The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law
Chapter 8: What Have You Done?
Page 4: Actus Reus – Causation
Let’s look at what Joe did.
Joe wanted to kill Simon. So he got a voodoo doll from his local witch doctor, and stuck some big pins in it.
Old-timey doctor outside a tribal hut with the sign “Vudu R. Us”, waving while Joe sticks big pins in a straw effigy.
Sure enough, the very next day a brick fell from a building and put a dent in Simon’s skull.
Brick falling from the sky why Simon saunters jauntily along.
Plot twist!!
Joe shoves a pin through the head of a Simon-shaped doll. Simon, overcome with superstitious terror, rushes out of the building and is killed by a bus.