Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Flashcards
what was the purpose of the original Offences Against the Person Act 1861?
original mechanism to distinguish different kinds of assault and the different types of purpose that may commit it
ex// causing bodily injury by gunpowder, assaults on seamen, intent to obstruct transport of grain
what are modern examples that represent the same concept as the OAPA 1861?
assaulting an immigrations officer - UK Borders Act 2007 s22
causing serious injury by dangerous driving - Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012
human trafficking - Modern Slavery Act 2015
what are general non-fatal offences?
common assault
actual bodily harm
maliciously (intentionally or recklessly) wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm
maliciously wounding or causing GBH with intent to cause GBH
what sections under OAPA 1861 concern ABH, GBH and GBH with intent?
how many prosecutions are there under all these sections?
ABH s.47
GBH (intentionally or recklessly) s.20
GBH with intent to cause GBH s.18
26,000 prosecutions
where are assault and battery cases heard?
what sentence can a magistrate give?
crown or magistrates court - CPS can choose
can only give a 6 month sentence
what are the two assault offences?
technical/ psychic assault - fear of immediate application of unlawful force
battery - infliction of unlawful force
what happened in the Smith v Superintendent Woking Police Station 1983?
(technical/psychic force)
D peered through Vs window
when V saw him he continued to stare
fear of immediate application of unlawful force
what will make the fear of application of unlawful force harder to argue?
the more distant D is from V
the more secure the place that V is in
what case established that silent calls could amount to assault?
why?
Ireland v Burstow 1997
even though nothing was actively said, the silent calls could have amounted to the fear that D was right outside the front door
in what case did an indirect assault, with no intended victim, amount to a battery?
DPP v K 1990
acid put in hand dryer
what was the AR for battery described as in Santa Bermudez 2004?
‘when someone (by act or word) creates a danger’
‘thereby exposes other to a reasonably foreseeable risk of injury that materialises’
creates ‘the evidential basis for the AR of assault occasioning ABH’
what case established that an omission could constitute a battery?
Fagan v MPC 1968
what is meant by actual bodily harm (ABH)?
s.47
‘any injury which is calculated to interfere with the health and comfort of V’
wounding
bruising
EVEn hair cutting
what case established that hair cutting could amount to ABH?
why?
DPP v Smith 2006
‘to a woman her hair is a vitally important part of her body’
what does intention/recklessness need to relate to for the commission of an offence of assault occasioning ABH?
what case?
only the commission of the assault needs to be intended/reckless
fault element relates only to the assault/ not the ABH
R v Savage 1991
how is the severity of OAPA 1861 offences ranked?
least to most severe
s. 47 - assault occasioning ABH
s. 20 - assault where GBH was recklessly/intentionally inflicted
s. 18 - causing/intending GBH with intention to create GBH