Regina V. Dudley and Stephens (1884)

Regina v Dudley and Stephens (1884) 14 QBD 273, DC, is a landmark English criminal case that established the precedent that necessity is not a defence to murder. In the case, four sailors found themselves stranded in the Atlantic Ocean for 20 days. They killed one of their own, Richard Parker, to survive. Thomas Dudley and Edwin Stephens were charged with murder but argued they acted out of necessity to save their own lives.

The court found Dudley and Stephens guilty of murder, emphasizing that necessity does not excuse the deliberate taking of a human life. Their sentences were initially death, later commuted to six months' imprisonment.