Element 1: An Act

Question 1

What must the act be?

Answer 1

A positive act, not an omission e.g. pointing gun, shaking fist

Question 2

Tuberville v savage;

Answer 2

“If one, intending to commit battery, strikes at another and misses him, this is an assault.”

Question 3

Words

Answer 3

E.g. I’m going to kill you

R v Ireland per Lord Steyn: “a thing said is a thing done. There is no reason why something said should be incapable of causing apprehension of immediate personal violence”

Question 4

Silence

Answer 4

R v Ireland: silence was a positive act. D had to dial numbers and cal, C and therefore was not an omission but a part of a continuing act.

“Take now the case of the silent caller: he intends by his silence to cause fear and he is so understood. The victim is assailed with uncertainty about his actions. Fear may dominate her emotions, and it may be the fear that the caller’s arrival at her door may be imminent. She may fear the possibility of immediate personal violence. As a matter of law the caller may be guilty of an assault”

Question 5

Negating words;

Answer 5

Negate an assault.

Tuberville v Savage: “if it were not assize-time I would not take such language from you”

Question 6

Conditional language;

Answer 6

“Your money or your life” does not negate an assault because imposing a condition does not clarify whether you will inflict unlawful force or not.