Section 20 OAPA 1861 Flashcards
Definition of S20
Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously(MR) or inflict any grevious bodily harm shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable .
Actus reus of s20 is
Wounding or :
Inflicting grevious bodily harm
Mens rea of s20 is
Malicously
What does ‘wound’ mean
A cut or break in the continuity of the whole skin.
A cut of internal skin is or is not sufficient
It is sufficent
Is Internal bleeding a wound
Internal bleeding doesnt amount to wounding where there is no cut of the skin (eisenhower)
What case shows that broken bones are not a wound
R v wood (1830)
What does grevious bodily harm mean
Really serious harm (DPP v smith(1961))
Is it permissible to direct the jury that serious harm is sufficient for GBH?
Yes (Saunders(1985))
The severity of injuries must be assessed according to the victims age and health which case shows us this
R v Bollom (2004)
R v Bollom (2004) facts
17 month child had bruising to her abdomen and their legs and arms
D was convicted of GBH
Court stated bruising could be GBH.
(R v burstow)
Confirms psychiatric harm could amount to GBH.
(Chan fook)
Must be an indentifiable clinical condition
Dica (2004)
D had unprotected sex with two women and didnt tell them he was HIV positive
Both women became infected
Held that infecting someone with HIV could ammount to GBH.
Inflicting GBH case
(R v burstow)
D carried out an 8 month campaign of harrasmenf against a woman whom he had a brief relationship with.
Victim suffered severe depression
D was convicted under s20, the d actions only need to lead to the consequence of the victim suffering GBH
