Non Fatal Offences

Assault
1. Charged under s.39 of the Criminal Justice act 1988
  1. Common law assault and battery shall be summary offences and a person guilty of either shall be liable to a fine or a max prison term of 6 months
2. Actus Reus
  1. An assault is an act which causes another person to apprehend the infliction of immediate, unlawful force on his person (Collins v Wilcock)
    1. there must be an act to cause the apprehension
    2. Immediate can also mean looking through a window (Smith v Woking Police)
  2. Genuine apprehension of force is required (Lamb)
  3. An ommission will not suffice (Fagan v Metropolitan Police Commisioner)
3. Revealing a gun will constitute assault (Lodgon v DPP)
4. Threatenting letters can be an assault (Constanza)
5. Silent phone calls can also be an assault (Ireland)
6. Empty threat will not constitute an assault (Tuberville v Savage)
7. The act must be unlawful i.e. no consent (Slingsby)
8. Mens Rea
  1. Intention or recklessness as to causing the victim to apprehend the immediate infliction of unlawful personal force (Venna)
  2. Recklessness is subjective
  3. Intoxicated Behavior will constitute recklessness (Majewski)
Battery
1. Also charged under s.39 of Criminal Justice act 1988
2. Actus Reus
  1. A battery is the actual infliction of of unlawful force an another person (Collins v Wilcock)
    1. Touching of another person however slight may amount to battery
  2. Touching a victims skirt was equivalent to touching victim in (Thomas)
  3. Touching must be hostile (Wilson v Pringle)
  4. If the touching was unlawful, it is more likely to be hostile (Brown)
  5. Defendant does not have to touch the victim (R v Martin) Shouting fire in crowded theather
    1. Indirect battery is treated as if the defendant performed a direct battery (DPP v K)
    2. Hitting an adult that drops a child is equivelant to indirect battery (Haystead v CC of derbyshire
3. Can be committed by an ommission
  1. if the defendant creates a dangerous situation by omitting to say or do anything, he will be liable for the harm that results (miller)
  2. if someone creates a danger and thus exposes another to a reasonably forseeable risk of injury which occurs there is an evidential basis for actus reu
    1. DPP v Santana-Bermudez
4. Victim can consent to assault and battery (Brown)
  1. Victim must consent to both nature and quality of the act (Tabassum)
    1. Consent is implied for the ordinary jostlings of everyday life (Collins v Wilcock and Wilson v Pringle)
      1. Police can use reasonable force to arrest a defendant (Wood (Fraser) v DPP)
5. Mens rea
  1. Intention or recklessness as to the infliction of unlawful force (Venna)
Actual Bodily Harm
1. When an assault or battery causes an injury, the defendant will be charged with actual bodily harm
  1. Charged under s.47 of the offences against the person act (1861)
2. Actus Reus
  1. Must cause any hurt or injury designed to interfere with the health or comfort of the victim (Miller 1954)
    1. Bruising, Scratching, Grazing, Fractures, Concussion
    2. Psychiatric injury will also suffice (Chan Fook)
      1. Bodily injury may include any part of the body responsible for mental and other faculties
      2. Will require a recognised psychiatric illness (Burstow)
      3. Years of Domestic abuse will not suffice (Dhaliwal)
3. Mens rea
  1. If defendant performs the actus reus and mens rea of battery and it leads to injury, he will have all element for ABH (Roberts)
  2. Victim can consent if it falls under special exceptions of attorney generals reference no 6 (1980)
    1. Properly conducted games or sports, lawful chastisement or correction, reaosnable surgical interference and other dangerous exhibitions
      1. Conduct beyond what is accepted may be criminal i.e. a particularly grave injury (Barnes (2005)
    2. Mistaken belief in consent may be a defence (Jones)
4. Triable either way with max terms of 5 years
Malicous Wounding
1. Charged Under s.20 of OAPA 1861
  1. Triable either way with max term being 5 years
2. Actus Reus
  1. Unlawful
  2. Wound
    1. Must break through all the layers of the skin and cannot include internal bleeding (JCC v Eisenhower)
    2. Broken bone will not constitute a wound unless skin is broken (Wood)
  3. Inflict Grevious bodily harm
    1. Inflict does not require an assault (Beasley) (Burstow)
      1. Inflict simply means cause
    2. GBH simply means really serious harm but does not have to be life threatening (DPP v Smith)
      1. Jury can be directed as to serious Harm (Saunders)
    3. Age, Heath and other factors can be considered when determining whether injuries amount to GBH (Bollom)
    4. Biological GBH now exists as a result of Dica
    5. Severe depressive illness can now be GBH (Burstow)
3. Mens Rea
  1. 'Malicously' (s.20 OAPA 1861)
    1. Intentionally
      1. (Cunningham)
    2. Recklessly
      1. Cunningham
    3. Does not have to forsee that it will be grevious (Mowatt) (Parmenter)
      1. It is enough that D foresaw some physical harm to some person, albeit of a minor charecter, might result (Mowatt)
Grevious Bodily Harm With Intent
1. Charged under s.18 of OAPA 1861
  1. Max sentence is life imprisonment
    1. indictable to crown court for trial
2. Actus Reus
  1. Unlawful
  2. Wound
  3. Cause grevious bodily harm
3. Mens Rea
  1. There must be a specific Intent
    1. Therefore, the word malicously can be disregarded (Mowatt)
4. GBH must be a virtual certainty and the defendant must realise that this is the case (Nedrick) (Woolin)
Racially Motivated Assault
1. Under s.29 of crime & disorder act 1998, term of imprisonment will be incresd to represent the hostility towards a particular racial or religous group
Administering Poison

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Non Fatal Offences

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