R v Taber (2002) 56 NSWLR 443

Facts: The defendants (D) robbed the victim (V), an elderly woman living alone, and left her bound and gagged in the house to die.  V called emergency services, which they treated as a hoax and did not take any action. Around 9-11 days later, V died of dehydration. It was open to the jury to find D guilty of murder by omission.

Held: D was found guilty of murder by omission. Any person who deliberately puts another in danger comes under a legal duty to remove that danger. Alternatively, the case can be analysed as a continuance of an act started by the initial robbery that ended in her death, rather than an omission.