Harassment and Trespass to the Person

General Rule: Prohibits a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of another, which the defendant (D) knows or ought to know amounts to harassment.
Course of Conduct: Defined as conduct on at least two occasions in relation to the complainant. Conduct includes speech.
Legal Standard: Conduct must cause alarm or distress and must be "oppressive and unacceptable/unreasonable" as established in Majrowski v Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Trust [2006] UKHL 34.
Standard of Knowledge: D "ought to know" if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think the conduct amounted to harassment.

Case Examples: - Cheryl Cole’s claim against the press. - Roberts v Bank of Scotland [2013] EWCA Civ 882: Liability found after 547 calls regarding a credit limit despite the claimant (C) requesting they stop.
Remedies: Injunctions and damages for anxiety and financial loss.
Jones v Ruth [2011] EWCA Civ 804: established there is no foreseeability requirement; D is liable for harm flowing from their deliberate conduct.

Statutory Defences: No liability if conduct was for preventing/detecting crime, authorized by law, or reasonable in the circumstances.
Hayes v Willoughby [2013] UKSC 17: The Supreme Court ruled that conduct pursued to prevent or detect crime must be "rational."

Torts and Protected Interests: - Battery: Unlawful physical contact. - Assault: Threat of violence. - False Imprisonment: Deprivation of liberty. - Protects bodily/mental integrity and freedom of movement.
General Characteristics: - Must be committed intentionally; negligent harm is handled under negligence claims (Letang v Cooper [1965] 1 QB 232). - Must cause direct and immediate interference with C’s rights. - Actionable per se (without proof of damage).

Definition: Defined in Collins v Wilcock [1984] 1 WLR 1172 as "the actual infliction of unlawful force on another person."
Elements of Liability: - Intention to act. - Application of direct and immediate force. - The contact is unlawful.