Wounding with intent

Question 1

Wounding with intent to cause GBH:

Section/Penalty/Elements

Answer 1

Wounding with intent to cause GBH:

CA61; S188(1)
14 years imprisonment

1. With intent to cause GBH to any one
2. Wounds OR maims OR disfigures OR causes GBH
3. To any person

Question 2

Wounding with intent to injure/reckless disregard:

Section/Penalty/Elements

Answer 2

Wounding with intent to injure/reckless disregard:

CA61; S188(2)
7 years imprisonment

1. With intent to injure anyone, OR with reckless disregard for the safety of others
2. Wounds OR maims OR disfigures OR causes GBH
3. To any person

Question 3

Intent

Answer 3

There are two specific types of intention in an offence. Firstly there must be an intention to commit the act and secondly, an intention to get a specific result.

Case law: Collister.

Question 4

R v Taisalika

Answer 4

The nature of the blow and the gash which it produced on the complainant’s head would point strongly to the presence of the necessary intent.

Question 5

Injure - Sec 2 Crimes Act 1961

Answer 5

Means to cause actual bodily harm.

Question 6

R v Donovan

Answer 6

Bodily harm includes any hurt or injury calculated to interfere with the health or comfort of the victim. It need not be permanent, but must, no doubt, be more than merely transitory or trifling.

Question 7

With reckless disregard for the safety of others

Answer 7

While it is necessary to prove that the defendant foresaw the risk of injury to others, it is not necessary that he recognised the extent of the injury that would result.

Relevant case law:

Cameron v R; R v Tipple

Question 8

R v Waters

Answer 8

A breaking in the skin would commonly be regarded as characteristic of a wound. The breaking of the skin will normally be evidenced by a flow of blood and, in its occurrence at the site of a blow or impact, the wound will more often than not be external. But there are those cases where the bleeding which evidences the separation of tissues may be internal.

Question 9

Maims

Answer 9

Will involve mutilating, crippling or disabling part of the body so as to deprive the victim of the use of a limb or of one of the senses.

Question 10

Disfigurement

Answer 10

To deform or deface; to mar or alter the figure or appearance of a person. It does not need to be permanent.

Question 11

R v Rapana and Murray

(Think of two guys named Rapana and Murray dipping somone’s hand into hot oil - it is temporarily disfigured but able to be fixed with skin grafts)

Answer 11

Disfigure covers not only permanent damage but also temporary damage

Question 12

Grievous Bodily Harm

Answer 12

Grievous bodily harm can be defined as harm that is really serious.

A person causes GBH if their actions make them criminally responsible for it.

Question 13

DPP v Smith

Answer 13

“Bodily harm” needs no explanation and “grievous” means no more and no less than “really serious”.

Question 14

Any Person

Answer 14

Gender neutral. Proven by judicial notice or circumstantial evidence.

Question 15

R v Collister

Answer 15

Circumstantial evidence from which an offender’s intent may be inferred can include:

• The offender’s actions and words said before, during, and after the event
• The surrounding circumstances
• The nature of the act itself

Question 16

R v Tipple

Answer 16

Recklessness requires that the defendant know of, or have a conscious appreciation of the relevant risk, and it may be said that it requires a deliberate decision to run the risk.

Question 17

What are some additional examples of circumstantial evidence that may assist in proving the offender’s intent?

(PEWB)

Answer 17

• Prior threats
• Evidence of premeditation
• The use of a Weapon
• The number of Blows

Question 18

Degree of harm - R v Hunt

Answer 18

Wounding, maiming, or disfiguration need not be grievous, if in causing that harm the defendant had the intent to cause really serious harm.

Hunt was found guilty of wounding the servant, as although the cut was ‘slight and not in a vital part’ his intent had nevertheless been to cause serious harm (albeit to the property owner and not to the servant).

Question 19

Owen v Residential Health Management Unit

Answer 19

“Bodily harm” may include psychiatric injury but does not include mere emotions such as fear, distress, panic, or an hysterical or nervous condition.

“Bodily harm” in S188 includes really serious psychiatric injury identified as such by appropriate specialist evidence.

Question 20

What are some examples of wounding where the flow of blood is not necessarily evident?

Answer 20

A kick to the genitalia with such force that it ruptures the membrane lining, evidenced by blood in the urine.

Punching a victim repeatedly in the head who is on anti-coagulant drugs which then requires surgery for a blood clot on the brain.

Question 21

Describe the difference between wounding and GBH

Answer 21

‘Wounds’, ‘maims’ and ‘disfigures’ refer to the type of injury caused, whereas the term ‘grievous’ refers to the degree or seriousness of the injury.

Question 22

The doctrine of transferred malice

Answer 22

Where the defendant mistakes the identity of the person injured, or where harm intended for one person is accidentally inflicted on another, he is still criminally responsible.

Leading case law: Hunt.

Question 23

Not limited to immediate harm

Answer 23

• *R v Mwai:**
• *Was found guilty of causing GBH with reckless disregard for the safety of others.**

The Court of Appeal held that S188 is not limited to the immediate harmful consequences of the offender’s actions.

All that is required for the actus reus for GBH is an act causing GBH. The link between cause and effect is a physical one, not one of time. The consequences may be delayed, but they are consequences nonetheless.

Question 24

What definitions and/or case laws should be included in your discussion of the liability of

• S188(1) - wounding with intent to cause GBH

Answer 24

Definition of intent: 2 specific types of intent; R v Collister;

Causes GBH - a person causes GBH if their actions make them criminally responsible for it.

Definition of GBH: harm that is really serious; DPP v Smith;

Definition of wounds: R v Taisalika; R v Waters;

Definition of maims: mutilating, crippling or disabling part of the body so as to deprive the victim of the use of a limb or of one of the senses.

Definition of disfigurement: to deform or deface, mar or alter the figure or appearance of a person; R v Rapana and Murray

Definition of person: S2 CA61; gender neutral

Question 25

What definitions and/or case laws should be included in your discussion of the liability of

• S188(2) - wounding with intent to injure

Answer 25

Definition of intent: R v Collister; 2 specific types of intent;

Definition of injure: cause actual bodily harm; R v Donovan; R v Chan-Fook;

Reckless disregard for the safety of others: Cameron v R; R v Tipple;

Definition of wounds: R v Taisalika; R v Waters;

Definition of maims: mutilating, crippling or disabling part of the body so as to deprive the victim of the use of a limb or of one of the senses.

Definition of disfigurement: to deform or deface, mar or alter the figure or appearance of a person; R v Rapana and Murray

Causes GBH - a person causes GBH if their actions make them criminally responsible for it.

Definition of GBH: harm that is really serious; DPP v Smith;

Definition of person: S2 CA61; gender neutral