Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the two common law offences against the person?

A
  • Assault

- Battery

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2
Q

In what Act are the main offences of ABH, GBH and GBH with intent contained?

A
  • Offences Against the Person Act 1861
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3
Q

What is the problem with the Offences Against the Person Act 1861

A
  • It is a very old statute which causes problems for the legal system
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4
Q

Describe common assault. What type of offence is it#? Under what Act is it charged? What sentence?

A
  • Common Law offence
  • Summary offence
  • Charged under s39 Criminal Justice Act 1988
  • 6 months imprisonment or fine
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5
Q

What is common assault?

A
  • An act which causes the victim to apprehend the infliction of immediate and unlawful force being used against them
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6
Q

Is an omission sufficient for common assault?

A

No. It must be an act

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7
Q

In common assault, the act only needs to have caused fear. No force need actually be applied. Name a case that illustrates this.

A
  • Smith v Chief Superintendent of Woking Police Station (1983)
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8
Q

What happened in Smith v Chief Superintendent of Woking Police Station (1983)?

A
  • A woman was being watched by a man in her garden. Her fear was sufficient
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9
Q

What happened in Ireland (1997)?

A
  • Silent telephone calls were considered to be an assault as they put the defendant in immediate contact with the victim
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10
Q

What is the Mens Rea of common assault?

A
  • Intention to cause someone to fear the immediate infliction of unlawful force or recklessness
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11
Q

Describe common battery. What type of offence is it? Under what Act is it charged?

A
  • Common law offence
  • Summary offence
  • Charged under s39 Criminal Justice Act 1988
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12
Q

What is common battery?

A
  • the application of unlawful force against the victim
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13
Q

The force used in common battery can be a simple touch. Give a case that illustrates this

A
  • Collins v Wilcock (1984)
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14
Q

What happened in Collins v Wilcock (1984)?

A
  • Police officers tried to question prostitutes who didn’t want to talk
  • Once of the officers put his hand on the prostitute’s arm. This was considered battery
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15
Q

What was held in Thomas (1985)?

A
  • Touching the bottom of a woman’s skirt was sufficient for battery, as the court said this was the same as touching the person
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16
Q

What happened in Wood v DPP (2008)?

A
  • A police officer took hold of Wood’s arm to check his identity
  • HELD - the officer had not arrested Wood, therefore the officer had committed battery
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17
Q

Can battery be committed by an omission? Give a case that illustrates this

A
  • Yes

- DPP v Santana Bermudez (2003)

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18
Q

What happened in DPP v Santana Bermudez (2003)?

A
  • Police officer asked for defendant (who she was searching) if there were any sharp objects in his pockets
  • He said no
  • She pricked her finger on a needle in his pocket
  • Defendant’s omission = actus reus
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19
Q

What is the Mens Rea for common battery? In what case was this decided?

A
  • An intention to apply physical force to someone or recklessness as to whether that force was applied
  • R v Cunningham
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20
Q

Under what Act is assault occasioning actual bodily harm charged?

A
  • s47 Offences Against the Person Act 1861
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21
Q

What is the Actus Reus for ABH?

A
  • An assault or battery which causes actual bodily harm
22
Q

What happened in Miller (1954)? What was held?

A
  • Husband raped wife and threw her to the ground three times
  • Charged with rape and ABH (rape not allowed as marital exception)
  • HELD - ABH is any harm or injury that interferes with the health or comfort of the victim
23
Q

What happened in T v DPP (2003)? What was held?

A
  • Defendant chased and kicked victim
  • Victim lost consciousness
  • HELD - loss of consciousness, even momentarily, was held to be actual bodily harm
24
Q

What happened in DPP v Smith (Michael) (2006)? What was held?

A
  • Defendant sat on top of ex and cut her ponytail off
  • She sustained no bruises, scratches or cuts
  • HELD - cutting the victim’s hair can amount to ABH
25
Q

What happened in Chanfook (1997)? What was held?

A
  • Defendant locked victim in room and threatened violence
  • Victim tried to escape through the window, sustaining injuries
  • Conviction quashed as panic and distress not enough for ABH
  • HELD - psychiatric injury counts, but it must be an identifiable clinical condition
26
Q

Why was the defendant in Roberts (1971) guilty of ABH?

A
  • Even though he had not intended any injury or realised that there was a risk of injury, he had applied unlawful force when he tried to assault the victim in the car and this satisfied the mens rea
27
Q

Why was the defendant guilty of ABH in Savage (1991)?

A
  • She had gone to throw a drink over her ex-husband’s girlfriend in a pub
  • The glass slipped out of her hand and cut the woman
  • She had intended to throw the beer so had the intention to apply unlawful force
28
Q

Under what Act is Malicious Wounding/Inflicting Grievous Bodily Harm charged?

A
  • S20 Offences Against the Persons Act 1861
29
Q

Malicious Wounding/GBH is split in two. What are said two?

A
  • Wounding

- GBH

30
Q

Define wounding

A
  • A cut or break in the whole skin
31
Q

Define GBH

A
  • Serious harm following Saunders (1985)
32
Q

Give two cases where the injury was not sufficient enough to be considered wounding

A
  • JCC v Eisenhower (1983)

- Wood (1830)

33
Q

What was held in JCC v Eisenhower (1983)

A
  • Internal bleeding in the eye was not sufficient as the skin was not broken
34
Q

What was held in Wood (1830)?

A
  • Victim’s collar bone broken but skin wasn’t so not a wound
35
Q

What was held in R v Saunders (1985)?

A
  • GBH means serious harm
36
Q

Can serious psychiatric injury amount to GBH? In what case was this decided?

A
  • Yes

- Burstow (1977)

37
Q

What was held in Bollom (2004)?

A
  • Severity of injuries should be assessed in accordance with the victim’s age and health
38
Q

What was decided in Dica (2004)?

A
  • Infecting someone with HIV is GBH
39
Q

What happened in R v Konzani (2005)?

A
  • Defendant gave three people HIV
  • They didn’t know he had HIV and so couldn’t give informed consent
  • HELD - GBH
40
Q

What is the Mens Rea for Malicious wounding and GBH? What case was this based on?

A
  • Intention or subjective recklessness as to some harm (must be malicious)
  • R v Cunningham (1957)
41
Q

What is the Actus Reus for Malicious Wounding /GBH with intent? What is it necessary to prove?

A
  • Wounding or causing grievous bodily harm

- Necessary to prove that the defendant’s acts was a substantial cause of the wound or GBH

42
Q

What is the Mens Rea for Malicious Wounding/ GBH with intent?

A
  • Intent to do some grievous bodily harm or resist or prevent the lawful apprehension or detention of any person
43
Q

If any injury is caused whilst resisting arrest, then recklessness can be proved in relation to this injury. Give a case that illustrates this.

A
  • Morrisons (1989)
44
Q

What happened in Morrisons (1989)? What was held?

A
  • Defendant took police officer arresting him through a window. Her face was badly cut
  • Recklessness sufficient for this injury
45
Q

What was decided in Taylor (2009)?

A
  • Intention to wound is not enough for the Mens Rea for s18 (Malicious Wounding/GBH with intent)
46
Q

Define direct intention. Example?

A
  • Where the defendant embarks on a course of action to bring about a result which in fact occurs
  • I want to kill the Mrs, so I get a knife, sharpen it and stab her
47
Q

Define oblique intention. Example?

A
  • Can be said to exist where the defendant embarks on a course of conduct to bring about a desired result, knowing that the consequences of his actions will also bring about another result
  • I want to kill the Mrs so I’m going to bomb her at work -I know her colleagues will die so I am no less culpable for killing them than my wife
48
Q

Give two cases that illustrate oblique intention

A
  • Nedrick (1986)

- Woollin (1998)

49
Q

What was decided in Nedrick (1986)?

A
  • Where there is no direct intent, a judge is entitled to direct a jury that intent may be inferred if the resulting death was virtually certain and the defendant appreciated this virtual certainty (two independent requirements)
50
Q

How did the judge direct the jury in Woollin (1998)?

A
  • Applying Nedrick, directed the jury that the defendant could be said to have intended the death if there was a substantial risk of death which was appreciated by the defendant
51
Q

According to the Charging Standards document, it is common assault/battery where the injuries amount to no more than what four things?

A
  • Grazes
  • Scratches
  • Abrasions
  • Minor bruising