Non-fatal offences against the person

Assault definition:

An act by which D intentionally or recklessly causes V to apprehend immediate & unlawful personal violence

Battery definition:

An act by which D intentionally or recklessly inflicts unlawful personal violence upon the victim

Actus reus of assault:

Any act by which D causes V to apprehend immediate & unlawful violence

MR of assault:

Intention or recklessness

AR of battery:

• Unlawful personal violence

• ‘Any intentional touching of another person without consent & lawful excuse’ (faulkner v talbot 1981)

MR of battery:

Intention or recklessness as to unlawful personal violence

Actual bodily harm, s.47 definition:

‘Such hurt or injury need not be permenant but must be more than transient and trifling’ Donovan 1934

AR/MR of ABH:

• AR: Assault or battery + ABH

• MR: Same as assault or battery, doesn’t need to intend ABH; constructive liability

R v chan-fook 1994:

• D locked V up

• V suffered from trauma after

• D not charged as there was no recreational injury

• Appealed & now psychiatric injury must be recognised

• But “[I]t does not include mere emotions’ or ‘states of mind that are not themselves evidence of some identifiable clinical condition”.

Savage 1992:

• D threw beer over V’s head, assault

• Glass slipped and cut v, caused ABH

• Doesn’t matter that there was no foresight, MR for assault was there

AR for wounding or inflicting GBH, s.20:

Wounding or inflicting GBH

MR of s.20 act:

Intention or recklessness as to some harm

AR for wounding or causing GBH with intent, s.18:

Wound or cause GBH

MR for s18:

Intention 1) to cause GBH 2) to resist or prevent lawful arrest or detention

PQ order:

• Identify level of harm suffered by V: GBH, wound, ABH, physical contact, apprehension of physical contact

• Identify most serious potential offence: s18, 20, 47, battery, assault

• Discuss offence elements for liability, MR/AR

• Discuss defences

Wound:

• Consists of breaking both layers of the skin JJC v Eisenhower 1984

• Cut/larceration

Bollom 2003:

Injury amounting to ABH can be GBH if the victim was young

R v Ireland & Burstow 1998:

• Silent phonecalls made to ex

• Harassment through the form of letters

• Woman got given depression

• Lord Steyn: “I would hold that "bodily harm" in sections 18, 20 and 47 must be interpreted so as to include recognizable psychiatric illness.”