S20 and S18 GBH

Question 1

JCC v Eisenhower (1983)

Answer 1

The Court found the defendant not guilty of wounding, determining that a charge under s. 18 required that there be a break in ‘the continuity of the skin’, that is the whole skin and not merely a scratch to the outer layer of the skin

Question 2

Burstow (1997)

Answer 2

Held:

1. Psychiatric injury could amount to bodily harm. Dicta in Chan-Fook applied.
2. The word ‘inflict’ in s.20 simply means cause. There was thus no requirement that physical force is directly or indirectly applied.

Question 3

Dica (2004)