Domestic Abuse and Coercive control Flashcards
what does s1 of the Abusive Behavior and Sexual Harm Act 2016 state
an aggravation to an offence libelled by involving abusive behavior which caused, or intended to cause, either physical or psychological harm to partner or ex-partner
what does the Abusive Behavior and Sexual Harm Act 2016 fail to recognise
fails to acknowledge domestic abuse as a course of conduct and doesn’t include any provision for dealing with psychological abuse or coercive and controlling behavior as a stand-alone offence
case for single charge case and facts of case
- HMA v Taylor 2019
- 4 seperate incidents of assault were accepted as a ‘course of conduct’ - each similar in time, place and character
case for omnibus charge and facts of case
- Wilson v HMA 2019
- One ‘omnibus charge’ of a series of assaults
- Conviction was overturned on appeal as there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove the ‘course of conduct’
case for series of assaults and facts
- Spinks v PF 2018
- Number of assaults committed against the same person over a period of four eyes
- Accused was charge on a single ‘omnibus’ charge
- Conviction overturned on appeal as this was a number of separate assaults – not a single offence of a ‘series of assaults’
what does S2 Abusive behavior and sexual harm Act 2016 state
it’s an offence to disclose or threaten to disclose a photograph or film which shows another person in an intimate situation
case for disclosure or threat of disclosure of photograph or film and facts
- Shanks v PF 2018
- individuals who share intimate images privately lose control over those images and risk facing embarrassment if their privacy is violated
- anyone who shares such images with a partner deserves a reasonable expectation of protection from the law, which should take strict action against those who misuse this trust
The legislation in question has been created specifically to address these violations.
what does S76 of Serious Crime Act 2015
- controlling or coercive behavior in intimate or family relationship
- Created an offence for a person to ‘repeatedly or continuously engage in behavior towards another person that is controlling or coercive’ and criminalises ‘coercive and controlling behavior’
case reference for Serious Crime Act 2015
R v Challen 2019
the three ways of Engaging in course of abusive behaviour
- A engages in course of behavior which is abusive of A’s ex/partner
- A reasonable person would consider that the course of behaviour would be likely to cause B to suffer physical or psychological harm
- A intends by the course of behavior to cause B to suffer physical or psychological harm, or else is reckless as to whether the course of behavior causes B to suffer physical or psychological harm
how was abusive behaviour described in S2(2)
behavior which is abusive includes;
- Behavior directed that is violent threatening
- Intimidating behavior intimidated at a person, child of the person, or at another person that either has as its purpose one or more of the ‘relevant effects’ set out in the Act, or would be considered by a reasonable person to be likely to have one or more of the relevant effects
how was abusive behaviour described in S10
behavior may include saying or communicating something as well as doing something or intentionally failing to do something/ say something
what are the 5 categories of Coercive effect of the behavior
- Making B dependent/ subordinate to A
- Isolating B from friends and relatives or other sources of support
- Controlling, regulating or monitoring day-to-day activities
- Depriving/ restricting B’s freedom of action
- Frightening, humiliating, degrading or punishing B
case for Proving a course of conduct and facts
- CA v HMA 2022
- A unsuccessfully argued that each incident of allegedly abusive behavior within the overall course of conduct needed to be proved by corroborative evidence
what is the Section 6 defence
Defence of grounds of reasonableness in s6 - ‘…course of behavior was reasonable in particular circumstances’
