ABH

Question 1

What is the definition of ABH?

Answer 1

s.47 Offences Against the Persons Act 1861: “A common assault that occasions actual bodily harm.”

Question 2

What is the first part of the Actus Reus (AR) for ABH which must be established?

Answer 2

The D must’ve committed a common assault (Assault or a Battery).

(Identify which one & apply the relevant one fully)

Question 3

What is the second part of the AR for ABH?

Answer 3

Second part: The assault/battery must have occasioned the injures (this is a causation issue)

Question 4

What is the third part of the AR for ABH?

Answer 4

Third part: The v must have ABH injures . “Any hurt or injury calculated to interfere with the health & comfort of a V must be more than trifling” (Miller). “Must not be so trivial as to be wholly significant” (Chan Fook)

Question 5

What are the ABH injures & their cases if any?

Answer 5

Extensive/ multiple bruising
Temporary loss of sensory function
Psychiatric injury- mild or temporary (Ireland / Burstow)
Broken nose, toes, fingers, or a hair line fracture of another bone Temporary loss of consciousness (fainting)-T v DPP
Cutting the V’s hair (Smith)
Minor cuts requiring medical treatment
Chipped/ loss of a tooth

Question 6

What is the Mens Rea (MR) of ABH?

Answer 6

Savage:only the mens rea for assault of battery is needed.

Assault MR: Intention (Mohan) or recklessness (Cunningham) to do an act which causes the V to apprehend immediate unlawful force (Venna)

Battery MR: Intention (Mohan) or recklessness (Cunningham) to inflict unlawful force on the V (Venna)