ABH/ ACTUAL BODILY HARM

Question 1

ACT

Answer 1

S47 Offences Against the Person Act 1861

Question 2

DEFINITION

Answer 2

Common assault occasioning actual bodily harm
ABH is a result crime - must prove an assault or a battery

Question 3

AR OF COMMON ASSAULT

Answer 3

Actus Reus = Guilty Act
Decide if an Assault or a battery is committed :
1) Assault : go through AR
OR
2) Battery : go through AR

Question 4

CAUSATION

Answer 4

1) Factual : D will only be liable if the consequences would not have happened ‘but for’ their unlawful act or omission - ‘but for’ D’s actions V would not have suffered injury / death (R v White)
2) Legal : D has caused the unlawful outcome if his conduct contributes to it in a more than minimal way and is the operating and substantial cause of V’s injury/ death (R v Smith)

Question 5

NOVUS ACTUS INTERVENIENS

Answer 5

• Act of third party : operative & substantial cause (R v Smith)
• Medical negligence : must be ‘extra ordinary’ (R v Cheshire)
• V’s own actions : if reasonably foreseeable (R v Roberts)
• Act of god : natural and unpredicted event

other : Thin skull rule - take V as they find them (R v Blaue)
Must be no break in the chain of causation for D to be guilty

Question 6

AR OF ABH

Answer 6

Any ‘hurt’ or ‘injury’ calculated to interfere with V’s health or discomfort (R v Miller)

• More than trivial but less than serious/ can be psychiatric harm (R v Chan Fook)
• Caused by caused indirectly, (DPP v K)

Question 7

MENS REA = GUILTY MIND

Answer 7

D only needs to have the MR for the initial common assault, battery = Go through MR of either Assault or Battery
1) Intention (Mohan)
2) Recklessness (Cunningham)

Question 8

TRANSFERRED MALICE

Answer 8

D can be liable if they have the MR for crime against unintended V - MR will be transferred (R v Latimer/ Mitchell) ONLY for the same offence (R v Pembilton)
Coincidence rule ?