Wounding with intent Flashcards
Wounding with intent to cause GBH:
Section/Penalty/Elements
Wounding with intent to cause GBH:
CA61; S188(1)
14 years imprisonment
- With intent to cause GBH to any one
- Wounds OR maims OR disfigures OR causes GBH
- To any person
Wounding with intent to injure/reckless disregard:
Section/Penalty/Elements
Wounding with intent to injure/reckless disregard:
CA61; S188(2)
7 years imprisonment
- With intent to injure anyone, OR with reckless disregard for the safety of others
- Wounds OR maims OR disfigures OR causes GBH
- To any person
Intent
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.
R v Taisalika
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.
Injure - Sec 2 Crimes Act 1961
Means to cause actual bodily harm.
R v Donovan
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.
With reckless disregard for the safety of others
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
R v Waters
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.
Maims
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.
Disfigurement
To deform or deface; to mar or alter the figure or appearance of a person. It does not need to be permanent.
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)
Disfigure covers not only permanent damage but also temporary damage
Grievous Bodily Harm
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.
DPP v Smith
“Bodily harm” needs no explanation and “grievous” means no more and no less than “really serious”.
Any Person
Gender neutral. Proven by judicial notice or circumstantial evidence.
R v Collister
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
R v Tipple
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.
What are some additional examples of circumstantial evidence that may assist in proving the offender’s intent?
(PEWB)
- Prior threats
- Evidence of premeditation
- The use of a Weapon
- The number of Blows
Degree of harm - R v Hunt
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).
Owen v Residential Health Management Unit
“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.
What are some examples of wounding where the flow of blood is not necessarily evident?
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.
Describe the difference between wounding and GBH
‘Wounds’, ‘maims’ and ‘disfigures’ refer to the type of injury caused, whereas the term ‘grievous’ refers to the degree or seriousness of the injury.
The doctrine of transferred malice
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.
Not limited to immediate harm
- *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.
What definitions and/or case laws should be included in your discussion of the liability of
- S188(1) - wounding with intent to cause GBH
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
What definitions and/or case laws should be included in your discussion of the liability of
- S188(2) - wounding with intent to injure
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
