Regina v. Dudley and Stephens Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained

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Regina v. Dudley and Stephens | 14 Q.B.D. 273 (1884)

Shipwrecked; stranded at sea; with no food, water, or hope of rescue, would you kill one of your fellow castaways to save yourself? And if you did, would it be murder? That’s the question the court had to decide in the 1884 English case of Regina v. Dudley and Stephens. In this case, the Queen, or Regina in Latin, put Dudley and Stephens on trial for murder.

Thomas Dudley, Edwin Stephens, Richard Parker, and Brooks were crew members on a yacht. On July 5, 1884, a storm hit, forcing the crew to abandon ship. So the men got onto a lifeboat.

For 12 days, the crew ate nothing but two cans of turnips and a turtle. Occasionally, they had a little rainwater to drink. After starving and going without water for nearly a week, Dudley and Stephens proposed to Brooks that one of the crew be killed to save the others, but Brooks refused.

Dudley and Stephens suggested killing Parker, because he was only 17 or 18 years old and had no family. Brooks still said no. No one discussed it with Parker.

Desperate, on July 24th, Dudley and Stephens agreed that if no ship appeared by the next morning, Parker should be killed. No ship came, so Parker’s fate was sealed.

Parker was too weak to fight. After uttering a prayer for forgiveness, Dudley plunged a knife into Parker’s throat. Parker died instantly. Dudley, Stephens, and Brooks ate Parker and drank his blood. Four days later, the men were rescued. But they were in a poor state.

When the rescue ship docked, Dudley and Stephens were charged with murdering Parker. At trial, the jury couldn’t decide whether Dudley and Stephens had committed murder. The jury found that if the men hadn’t killed and eaten Parker, they were unlikely to have survived. Moreover, Parker would’ve probably died first.

Unclear about the law, the jury asked the appellate court, known as the Queen’s Bench Division, for help. Specifically, the jury asked whether what Dudley and Stephens had done was murder under the law.

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