In the defence of duress by threat, the defendant argues that they committed the actus reus and mens rea of an offence because they were threatened by a coercer, and had no effective choice to avoid the crime. The defence is cumulative: if one of the criteria of the defence isn’t satisfied, the whole defence fails.
Where there is ample evidence to raise an issue of duress, the burden is placed on the prosecution to disprove it to the criminal standard.
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