... risk involved and the seriousness of the potential harm. It is also crucial to take into account the social utility of the action. Some risks may be legally taken, for example, "the surgeon performing an operation...would not properly be described as reckless unless the risk he took was an unreasonable one".2 The risk undertaken is balanced by the social utility of the activity. Consequently, "if an act has no social utility but involves the slight possibility of the risk of harm, this would suffice to render the taking of that risk a reckless act".3 Until 1981, the leading authority on recklessness was R v Cunningham [1957]. The defendant was charged under section 23 of the offences Against the Persons Act 1861 with 'maliciously administering an obnoxious thing so as to endanger life'. It was held that the statutory definition of 'malicious' was intentionally or recklessly and the court defined recklessness ...

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