Simple OAP Flashcards
R v Horseferry Road Stipendary Magistrate 1990
D claimed that ‘The Satanic Verses’ was contrary to the Public Order Act 1986.
Provocation of unlawful violence.
Key point: Immediate does not mean instantaneous.
Gang uttering threat requiring travel commit offence regardless.
Connotes proximity in time and causation.
Attorney General’s Reference (No 6 of 1980)
D and V quarrelled in street. Agreed to a fist fight. V suffered ABH. Jury directed that D may not be guilty where V agreed to fight and D used reasonable force. D acquitted. Certified Q: Is consent to fight a defence? Not in the public interest. Answer: No
Collins v Wilcock (DC) 1984
D seen associating w/ known prostitute. Officer approached to give caution. D walked away. Officer grabbed D, who scratched her arm. D convicted of assault, fined £50. On appeal: V assaulted D by grabbing arm. Police have no power of detention. Appeal allowed. Conviction quashed.
R v Wilson 1955
D discovered poaching by gamekeeper.
Resisted arrest, kicking V.
Not guilty of aggravated assault, gamekeeper obligated to get details, did not, arrest not lawful.
Assault elements made out.
Jury returned guilty of common assault.
Appeal: D not charged with assault.
Held: Aggravated assault not satisfied, common assault an ingredient.
D may be found guilty of lesser offence ‘a fortiori’.
Verdict and direction correct.
Appeal denied.
R v Costanza 1997
D pursued a disinterested V.
Sent her over 800 letters.
Telephoned her, sometimes silently.
Wrote notes on door.
Evidence that D’s actions caused V clinical depression and anxiety.
Convicted of assault occasioning ABH.
Conceded that D’s acts caused harm.
Appealed that violence was insufficiently immediate and should have been withdrawn from jury.
Held: Sufficient to prove that immediate future was not excluded from the fear.
Judge entitled to leave question to the jury.
Appeal dismissed.
CPS v Shabbir, Khan, Rathor & Raffique 2009
Defendants used threatening, abusive, insulting language and beat V.
CCTV evidence admitted.
No sound: Offence 1 acquitted.
Prosecution did not prove lack of consent.
Defendants acquitted.
Prosecution appealed.
Held: Submissions on consent spurious.
All defendants should have been represented together.
Appeal allowed.
Case notable for Judge’s negativity toward court of first instance.
Haystead v Chief Constable of Derbyshire 2000
V lived w/ her child.
Had been involved w/ D, but ended it.
He came to her flat, she admitted him and he punched her, causing her to drop the child.
Charged w/ common assault.
D’s defence was that violence was not applied to the child.
Held at 1st & appeal: Direct infliction not essential.
Force can be applied through medium controlled by D (As in a weapon), only difference being intent/recklessness.
Appeal dismissed, criminal condemnation appropriate.
R v Belfon 1976
D slashed V w/ a razor.
Charged w/ wounding w/ intent (S18).
Judge directed that D intended if he foresaw consequences but acted regardless.
Held on appeal: Recklessness will not suffice, at direct odds w/ concept of intention.
S 18 offence quashed.
R v Bryson 1985
D’s defence to wounding w/ intent was that he had accidentally driven into the three victims.
Jury directed that foresight, desired or not, amounted to an intention.
Held: In this case D was in full control, inference of intention irresistible.
Appeal dismissed.
R v Hodson 2009
D and V argued in a nightclub. D struck V with a glass. D claimed self defence. Judge directed only acquittal or S18. Difficult to claim S20 (No intent) given the defence. D convicted, appealed. Held: On the facts, S20 a legitimate alternative verdict for jury to decide. Retrial ordered.
R v Mandair 1995
D charged w/ S18 OAPA. Jury directed that they could convict of S20. Judge used 'cause' GBH over 'inflict'. Appeal: Cause GBH not an offence. Held: Alternative charge sound. Cause/inflict synonymous. Other issues remitted to magistrate.
R v Clarence 1888
D infected V, his wife, w/ gonorrhoea.
Convicted of S20 OAPA.
V would not have consented had she been informed.
Held on appeal: To allow the conviction to stand would render a father liable for infecting child w/ smallpox.
Conviction quashed.
Obvious legal development since.
R v Richardson 1998
D suspended from dental practice, continued regardless.
Charged w/ six counts of assault.
Consent vitiated by her fraud.
D convicted.
Held on appeal:
Victims knew identity of D.
Not deceived as to nature and quality of the act.
Informed consent a civil law concept, not applicable.
Appeal allowed.
Note: Long history of common law. Too binding?
