1B.3.3 s20 OAPA 1861 Flashcards
s20 OAPA 1861
Maliciously wounding or inflicting GBH.
What are the two offences that fall under s20 OAPA 1861?
- Maliciously wound
or
- Inflicting grievous bodily harm
What type of offence is s20 OAPA 1861?
Triable-either-way
Sentence for s20 OAPA 1861
Minimum of 5 years imprisonment
Meaning of ‘unlawful’ in the actus reus of s20
As with s47 OAPA 1861, the act must be unlawful. The main issues revolve around consent and specific exceptions such as surgery. For example:
-In R v Melin (2019), consent to injection with Botox resulting in serious harm was no defence when the consent was given on the understanding that the defendant was medically qualified, which he was not.
Meaning of a ‘wound’ in the actus reus of s20
A wound is a cut or break in the continuity of the whole skin.
A cut of internal skin, such as in the cheek is sufficient for a wound, but internal bleeding is where there is no cut of the skin is not sufficient. This can be seen in JCC v Eisenhower (1983).
JCC v Eisenhower (1983)
The victim was hit in the eye by a shotgun pellet. This did not penetrate the eye but did cause severe wounding under the skin. As there was no cut, it was held that this was not a wound. The cut must be of the whole skin – both layers.
R v Wood (1830)
The victim’s collar bone was broken but it was held there was no wound because the skin was intact.
Grievous bodily harm (GBH)
Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) means really serious harm, which may be physical, psychiatric or by deliberate infection with a serious disease.
DPP v Smith: Grevious bodily harm means really serious harm.
Bollom: The severity of the injuries should be assessed according to the victim’s age and health.
Dica Infecting someone with HIV amounts to GBH.
Burstow: Serious psychiatric injury can be GBH.
Meaning of ‘inflict’
It was held in the case of Burstow that ‘cause’ means ‘inflict’.
Mens rea of s20
The word used in this section is ‘maliciously’. In Cunningham (1957), it was held that maliciously did not require any ill will towards the person injured. It simple means either:
- The defendant intended to cause another person some harm.
or
- The defendant was subjectively reckless as to whether another person suffered some harm.
R v Parmenter (1991)
D injured his 3-month-old baby when he threw the child in the air and caught him. D said he often had done this with slightly older children and did not realise that there was risk of any injury. D was convicted of s47 OAPA 1861.
The House of Lords confirmed that the Cunningham meaning of recklessness applies to all offences in which the statutory definition uses the word “maliciously”.
