Non-fatal offences-Battery

Question 1

What is the AR of battery?

Answer 1

Infliction of force or violence (the merest touching)

Question 2

What is the MR of battery?

Answer 2

Intention or subjective recklessness to commit the AR.

Question 3

Where does battery come from?

Answer 3

Common law

Question 4

What is battery?

Answer 4

The actual infliction of harm

Question 5

What are assault and battery known as together and why?

Answer 5

Common assault
They both come from common law

Question 6

What is the AR of battery?

Answer 6

The unlawful application of force on another.

Question 7

What case was the definition of the AR of battery confirmed?

Answer 7

Ireland and Burstow

Question 8

What is the MR of battery?

Answer 8

The defendant intentionally or recklessly applied force to the person of another

Question 9

What case did the definition of the MR of battery come from?

Answer 9

Venna (1976)

Question 10

Summarise the facts of Venna (1976).

Answer 10

The D struggled with the police officers who were arresting him.
D fell to the ground and lashed out wildly with his legs.
He fractured a bone in the hand of an officer.

Question 11

What is the different elements which make up the AR of battery?

Answer 11

1. The level of force needed
2. An act
3. Unlawful
4. Indirect battery

Question 12

Give the facts of Collins v Willcock.

Answer 12

A police officer committed battery by taking hold of the arm of a women suspected of (illegal) soliciting. (he did not intend to arrest her).

Question 13

What did the court say about the level of force needed in order to commit battery in Collins v Willcock?

Answer 13

Any touching of another person, however slight, may amount to a battery.

Question 14

Summarise Thomas (1985).

Answer 14

A school caretaker was convicted for battery after touching a pupil’s skirt.

Question 15

What did the court deem in Thomas (1985)?

Answer 15

The court deemed touching someone’s clothes akin to touching the person.

Question 16

What things, not touching someone directly, can constitute (amount to) battery?

Answer 16

A slap
Throwing a drink over someone
Touching someone’s clothes

Question 17

What did battery traditionally have to be?

Answer 17

An act, not an omission.

Question 18

Which case suggests that battery can be an omission where there is a duty to act?

Answer 18

Santana Bermudez (2003)

Question 19

Give the facts of Santana Bermudez (2003).

Answer 19

A police officer asked if there was anything in the D’s pocket.
He said no.
She searched him and was pricked by a drugs needle.
He was found liable for creating a dangerous situation.

Question 20

Generally, is there liability for a person for battery if the person has consented to the physical contact?

Answer 20

No

Question 21

When else is there no liability for battery, in regards to the level of force needed?

Answer 21

When the force used is reasonable.

Question 22

Why was the force in Collins v Willcock (1984) unreasonable?

Answer 22

She was not making an arrest.

Question 23

What did Lord Goff make clear in Collins v Willcock?

Answer 23

Not all touching is battery.

Question 24

Summarise exactly what Lord Goff said in Collins v Willcock (1984).

Answer 24

Most of the physical contacts of ordinary life are not actionable because they are impliedly consented to the risk of bodily contact.
Nobody can complain of the jostling which is inevitable from presence e.g a busy street or a party where someone is (within reason) slapped on the back.

Question 25

What case is a good example of what Lord Goff said in Collins v Willcock in regards regards to ‘generally acceptable’ force/behaviour?

Answer 25

McMillan v CPS (2008)

Question 26

Summarise the facts of McMillan v CPS (2008).

Answer 26

A drunken woman was taken by the arm by a policeman in order to steady her for her own safety.
This was not an assault as it was deemed within the bounds of normally accepted behaviour.

Question 27

If the physical contact that takes place is ‘generally acceptable’, when will liability occur?

Answer 27

If the physical contact goes beyond what is generally held to be acceptable e.g., squeezing a hand tightly until it hurts.

Question 28

When do indirect batteries take place?

Answer 28

When the D takes action which subsequently (after a time delay) lead to a physical force being acted on another individual.

Question 29

What cases are used to show indirect battery?

Answer 29

Martin (1881)
DDP v K (1990)
[use other 2 more] Haystead v Chief Constable of Derbyshire (2000)

Question 30

Give the facts and results of Martin (1881).

Answer 30

The accused placed an iron bar across the exit in a theatre.
He then shouted “fire”.
Several people hurt in ensuing crush which constituted battery.

Question 31

Summarise the facts of DPP v K (1990).

Answer 31

15 year old schoolboy hid sulphuric acid in a hand drier in a school toilet block.
Intended to remove it later without causing harm.
However, in the meantime, another pupil used drier and acid was sprayed in his face.
D liable for indirect battery.

Question 32

Summarise the facts of Haystead v Chief Constable of Derbyshire (2000).

Answer 32

D punched a woman causing her to drop her baby.

Question 33

What did the court say in Haystead v Chief Constable of Derbyshire (2000)?

Answer 33

They hold that the AR is present because the D had effectively used the woman as a weapon to harm the baby.

Question 34

In Venna (1976), what was the mens rea of battery confirmed as?

Answer 34

The intention to apply force to another or recklessness as to whether such force is applied.

Question 35

What does the intention in mens rea need to relate to?

Answer 35

The act itself not any harm which ensues.

Question 36

What case is used for showing transferred malice?

Answer 36

Latimer (1886)

Question 37

Summarise the facts of Latimer (1886).

Answer 37

D deliberately hit A with his belt, but the belt rebounded and accidentally hit B. The D was liable for battery against B due to “transferred malice.”

Question 38

Give some examples of common assault and battery injuries.

Answer 38

No more than:
Graze
Scratch
Abrasion (scraped/rubbed off skin)
Minor bruising
Black eye
Swelling
Reddening of skin
Superficial cuts
Non-displaced broken nose e.g., cracked bone

Question 39

What are things which aggravate common assault and battery?

Answer 39

Weapon
Biting
Gouging
Kicking V whilst on the ground
Strangulation (if it is more than fleeting (brief) and causes V to apprehend a real fear of immediate violence)