None Fatal Offences Flashcards
None fatal offences
Someone is injured but does not die
Assault
Battery
ABH
Gbh s.20
GBH s.18
Assault
Lord Goff in collings v willcock define assault as :
An act which causes the victim to apprehend immediate unlawful force”
Assault has 3 Stages
1)an act
2) make the victim apprehend
3) immediate force
An act
D must do an act ( r v Ireland)
Words , gestures, silence
Side rule - even written words (constanza)
Apprehension
Means that the victim was sufficiently frightened R V LAMB
Side rule even a joke can be an assault if the victim is scared R V LOGDEN
Immediate unlawful force
Threat of force should be immediate
(Smith v chief of working police)
Side rule : words may cancel the assault
(Turbville v savage)
Mens tea for assault
Intention (Mohan)
Recklessness (Cunningham)
(Venna)
Battery
Lord Goff in collins V willcock
Where the D inflicts unlawful force in V
Battery ~ 2 stages
1) touching
2) touching must be unlawful
Battery lord Goff in collins V willcock said
Touch however slight may amount to battery
Battery side rules
1) Touching a person’s clothes whilst they are wearing them is equivalent to touching them ( R v Thomas)
2) indirect touching where the defendant does not physically touch the victim ( R v Martin)
ABH definition
Actual bodily harm
Assault that occasions actual bodily harm
ABH section & act
S.47 offences against the person act 1861
ABH stage 1
D must commit a common assault .
(Assault or battery)
/Explain whichever they committed/
Stage 2 ABH
Occasions (causes)
Acts of causation
Vs own actions (Roberts)
Acts of third parties (Pagett)
Thin skull rule (Blaue)
D refusing medical treatment (Holland)
Stage 3 ABH
Actual bodily hard
Any hurt or injury calculated to interfere with the health or comfort of the V , but it has to be more than trifling
(Miller)
“The injury shouldn’t be so trivial as to be wholly insignificant” Chan Fook
Battery mens rea
Intention (Mohan) or recklessness (Cunningham) to inflict unlawful force on V (Venna)
ABH mens rea
Mens rea for assault or batter (Savage)
(Explained)
2 types of GBH
S.20 offences against a person act 1861
S.18 offences against a person act 1861
S20 GBH definition
“where D wounds or inflicts any GBH upon the v with the intention or recklessness to cause harm”
S.20 mens rea
Intention or recklessness to cause SOME injury (MOWATT)
S.18 GBH definition
“where the D wounds or causes GBH with the intention to cause GBH or with the intent to resist arrest”
S.18 mens rea
Intention to cause GBH or D has intention to resist arrest by GBH and injuries are caused.
(Morrison)
Actus reus is the same for both s.20 and s.18
D inflicts or causes : a wound or a GBH injury.
Wound requires both layers of the skin to be broken (dermis and epidermis)
JCC V EISENHOWER
DPP v Smith defines gbh as : nothing more or less than REALLY serious harm, but it does not have to be life threatening
Side rule actus reus GBH
Severity of the injury should be assessed according to the victims age, health and any other particular factors
R v BOLLOM
Side rule actus reus GBH
If the V has suffered multiple injuries (that are individually not GBH) they can be classed as GBH injuries if they are serious when accumulated
