law - non fatal offences

AR of assault

Causing V to apprehend immediate unlawful force

assault is defined in…

common law

Smith v CCoW

Immediate means in the near future

case - D peering through v's window and staring

R v Ireland

Silence/Words can amount to assault

case - D called women and just breathed heavily

Read v Coker

Gestures can be an assault

case - D and his gang rolling up their sleeves

R v Constanza

Written words can be an assault

case - D wrote 800 letters of hate against colleague

Tuberville v Savage

Words may negate an assault

case - D 'if it were not assize time i would run you through the middle'

DPP v Logdon

V can apprehend force even if the use of force is not possible

case - D pointed a fake gun at v who was terrified

MR of assault

Intentionally or recklessly causing V to apprehend immediate unlawful force

direct intention case and definition

R v Mohan - D makes a decision or aim to bring about a prohibited consequence

recklessness case and definition

R v Cunningham - D realises a risk but continues regardless

Transferred malice

R v Latimer - mens rea is transferred from intended V to actual V

Coincidence

actus reus and mens rea at the same time

single transaction

mens rea before actus reus - Thabo-meli

Continuing act

actus reus before mens rea - Fagan v MPC

Actus reus of battery

Applying unlawful force to another person

battery is defined in…

common law

R v Thomas

force = lightest touch can amount to battery

Touching clothes counts as battery.

case - school caretaker rubbed his hand on a girl's skirt.

Wilson v Pringle

shows that force must be hostile, meaning unwanted and beyond the ordinary jostlings of everyday life

case - 2 schoolboys playfighting, wasnt hostile

Fagon v MPC

force can be applied via a continuing act

case - D ran over police officers foot by accident but then refused to move off

DPP v K

Force can be applied indirectly e.g. through an object

case - D emptied sulphuric acid to hand drier, when v used hand drier he got burned

DPP v Santana-Bermudez

force can be applied by an omission but only where d has a duty to act and failed to perform that duty

case - D injured a police woman by allowing her to search him knowing he had needles in his pockets when he stabbed her

Mens Rea of Battery

Intentionally or recklessly applying unlawful force to V

R v Mohan

Direct Intention - decision or aim to bring about a consequence

R v Cunningham

recklessness - D realises a risk but carries on regardless

AR of Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm

an assault or battery which causes ABH to another person

ABH is defined in…

s47 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861

R v Chan-Fook

to be ABH harm cannot be so trivial as to be wholly insignificant

Psychiatric harm can be ABH

case - D dragged V to a room and locked him in, V was scared and injured himself when he fell through the window trying to escape

DPP v Smith

Cutting hair can amount to ABH

case - D cut off V's ponytail with a pair of scissors

T v DPP

Loss of consciousness can be ABH

case - D chased V, V fell to the ground , kicked by D and V briefly blacked out

causation is needed for ABH, GBH, Wounding

factual - but for test - pagett

legal - operstive and substantial - smith

Intervening acts

Mens rea of ABH

R v Savage - shows D only needs MR of assault/battery and not to harm/cause injury

case - D aimed to throw a glass of beer over V but let the glass slip, injuring V

AR of Wounding

To unlawfully wound a person

wounding is defined in…

s18 and s20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861

JCC v Eisenhower

a wound is a cut or break in at least 2 layers of skin

internal bleeding does NOT count

case - V was shot above the eye suffering bruising and internal bleeding into the eye

Mens Rea of Wounding + GBH

MR of s18 is intention to cause serious harm - R v Belfon

MR of s20 is intention or recklessness to cause some harm -

R v Mowatt

MR of wounding and GBH is not about how much harm D caused…

it is all about how much harm D meant to cause

AR of Grevious Bodily Harm

the actus reus of GBH is to cause GBH on a person

GBH is defined in…

s18 and s20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861

DPP v Smith

defines GBH as really serious harm

R v Burstow

GBH can be serious psychiatric harm

case - D inflicted GBH on V following their breakup, following her, calling her, V suffered severe clinical depression

R v Dica

Biological harm can amount to GBH

case - D infected V with HIV knowing he was positive

R v Brown and Stratton

GBH can be an accumulation of minor injuries

case - D caused V broken nose, broken teeth and a cut over one eye

R v Bollom

Severity of injuries should be assessed according to V's age and health

case - D caused GBH to a baby after causing bruises to the body

R v Martin

GBH can be committed indirectly

case - D turned lights of in a theatre and people ran to get out, trampling each other and causing injuries like broken limbs

R v Mowatt (MR)

direct intention or recklessness to cause some harm

R v Belfon (MR)

Direct or oblique intention to cause really serious harm

Alternative mens rea s18

causing GBH and/or Wounding with intention to resist arrest + intention or recklessness as to causing some harm