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Summary Non-Fatal Offences GDL Distinction Style Notes
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Distinction style notes for Non-Fatal offences
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NON-FATAL OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON-FIRSTLY- Look at the level of injury
-Look at the mental state required for the offence (not the mental state of the
defendant)
-Once offence established consider whether there are any potential defences
-Note: the outcome is often not what the defendant intended- not their aim / goal /
purpose.
NOTE: you can have an omission for the AR- if you fail to rectify something and it could
lead to harm, and you chose to do it anyway (e.g. because someone deserves it).
ASSAULT -
Fagan v MPC, James J: ‘an assault is any act that causes another person to
apprehend immediate and unlawful personal violence’.
Basic intent crime: intention or recklessness will suffice to make out the MR.
ACTUS REUS
1. ANY ACT R v Wilson: words can be an act – ‘get out the knives’.
R v Ireland; Burstow: held that words can be an act – involved
silent and abusive phone calls.
Lord Stein: ‘words can suffice- a thing said is also a thing
done. There is no reason why something said is not capable of
causing an immediate apprehension of violence. Words can
convey a message, one that is arguably more directed than
silence’.
2. CAUSES ANOTHER Apprehend = understand / perceive that immediate and
PERSON TO unlawful personal violence will be suffered- it doesn’t mean fear
APPREHEND (possible to understand you are going to get hit without being
PERSONAL frightened).
VIOLENCE
R v Lamb: D must cause V to believe that he can and he will
carry out the threat of personal violence
D and V were playing with a gun- both assumed trigger would not
go off- D pulled trigger and V was killed- unlawful act not made
out- V did not apprehend any violence because he did not think
there was any chance of him being shot.
Logdon v DPP: as long as V apprehends the threat, it is
irrelevant that D does not have the means to carry out the
, threat
D made threats to V with a replica gun- couldn’t have harmed V- V
still apprehended violence because they did not know the gun was
a replica- it was irrelevant D could not have carried it out.
Smith v Leech Brain: it does not matter that V is unusually
sensitive in perceiving threats- thin skull rule
You must take your victim as you find them.
Note: if V was ridiculously sensitive, there would be no mens rea
(you do not intend to cause that individual to apprehend violence.
The AR also depends on the state of V- if V is deaf and cannot
hear the threat; there will be no AR (V would not apprehend the
threat).
Tuberville v Savage: words may negate a threat
D drew out his sword and said ‘if it wasn’t for the assizes I would
cut you’ – action of pulling out the sword was threatening but
negated by the words that implied that no physical action could
take place.
3. PERSONAL R v Ireland; Burstow, Lord Hope: it must be physical violence –
VIOLENCE a threat of psychological harm is not sufficient.
Psychological harm- charges under statute such as Protection
from Harassment Act 1997 may be more suitable.
Immediate does not need to mean instantaneous
4. IMMEDIATE
VIOLENCE Smith v Chief Superintendent Woking Police Station: D was a
tramp-made a nasty face at V through a window and she was
scared- D argued no apprehension of immediate violence
because there was a window and a locked door- not upheld.
Kerr LJ: ‘when one is in a state of terror, one is unable to analyse
precisely what they are scared of and what will happen next’.
R v Constanza: concerned letters and telephone calls- V was
frightened but it was not necessarily immediate violence- held that
the essential issue is whether there is a fear of violence at
some time, not excluding the immediate future.
R v Ireland; Burstow: D made a series of silent phone calls to
women over a period of three months- still assault- immediate
doesn’t mean instantaneous, it is a fairly fluid concept.
5. UNLAWFUL Consider whether any defences may apply- state this here but
VIOLENCE then explain defences in detail at the end of the question.
MENS REA
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