Ahead of her wedding with Olver, Dagdara is celebrating with close friends Tarna, Andaya, and Min, who rent a luxury isolated cottage and organise a number of “hen party” entertainment activities for the night. One of these activities is a drinking game in which the participants are asked to mix a variety of alcoholic beverages to create and drink as many different combinations as possible. Usually a very light social drinker, Dagdara is encouraged by her friends to “let go” and enjoy herself just this one night. As the game progresses Dagdara quickly becomes intoxicated, which in turn causes her to have a strong feeling of anxiety. She tells her friends that she would like to go to bed, and Tarna offers her a tablet called “Ease It”, which is available over the counter in pharmacies and advertised as “a safe way to reduce tension and stress”.
Dagdara takes one tablet but does not read the accompanying leaflet which says “Ease It” should not be used in conjunction with alcohol. She wakes up in the night feeling very confused and disoriented. Looking through the window she sees her car parked outside in the driveway. Still in her dressing gown, Dagdara leaves the room and once out of the cottage approaches the car with the vague idea of wanting to go home. She gets in and starts driving; however, her handling of the car is erratic and she drives without an apparent sense of direction. A short distance from the cottage Dagdara crashes into a wooden side gate to one of the houses of a nearby village. As a result of the crash one of the gate’s posts is broken and the hinges are severely bent. Dagdara is uninjured but loses consciousness, and when found by her friends a few hours later, is unsure of her surroundings and remembers nothing of the car ride.
Discuss Dagdara’s criminal liability for the offence of criminal damage, taking into account potential application of the rule on intoxication.
