Imagine the scene. In a storm on the high seas, almost 2,000 miles from the Cape of Good Hope, the crewmen of an English yacht are forced to abandon their vessel and brave the waves in an open boat. There are four men in the boat: three ‘able-bodied English seamen’, by the names of Dudley, Stephens and Brooks, and a cabin boy of about 17 years of age. Having endured 18 days largely without food and water, Dudley and Stephens propose to Brooks that the boy might have to be sacrificed so that the others may live, but Brooks dissents. Dudley then suggests drawing lots to determine whom should be sacrificed, but Brooks again refuses to get involved. The boy is not consulted. On the twentieth day, Dudley and Stephens approach the boy, who is weak and helpless with famine, and kill him with a knife.
The boat is rescued on the twenty-fourth day. By this time, all three men have feasted on the boy, but are nevertheless found ‘in the lowest state of prostration’. When they arrive in the port of Falmouth, and the events are recalled, Dudley and Stephens are committed for trial at Exeter on a charge of murder. They seek to argue a defence of necessity.
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