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Criminal Law - Non-Fatal Offences and Consent
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Comprehensive notes on Criminal Law in the UK, on non-fatal offences and consent.
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CRIMINAL LAW REVISION NOTES1. INTRODUCTION:
OUR FOCUS:
• We will be focusing on the following offences (ranked from most serious to least serious):
A. Section 18, OAPA 1861: wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.
B. Section 20, OAPA 1861: wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm.
C. Section 47, OAPA 1861: assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
D. Section 39, CJA 1998: common assault (assault and battery).
CATEGORISING OFFENCES:
• These offences can be divided into two categories:
(i) Crimes of violence: offences in which the defendant’s conduct threatens fundamental
social values or public safety; the law aims to protect these. The offences may be
committed irrespective of consent.
- For such offences, proof of harm is required.
- The role of consent is rather limited and complicated, especially where harm is intended.
- Sections 47, 20 and 18 of OAPA 1861 fall into this category.
(ii) Crimes against autonomy: offences that invade an individual’s autonomy/ privacy. The
law’s purpose is to protect the individual’s right to be free of unwanted interference with
their autonomy.
- For such offences, no harm is required to be proven; only interference with self-control (i.e.
that the defendant’s interference was not consented to) needs to be proven.
- Therefore, the absence of consent (the presence of a non-consenting victim) is an essential
element of these offences.
- Assault, battery (assault by beating), false imprisonment and rape fall into this category.
2. OFFENCES:
A. SECTION 18, OAPA 1861 - WOUNDING/ INFLICTING GBH WITH INTENT:
,CRIMINAL LAW REVISION NOTES
OVERVIEW OF S. 18 OFFENCE:
→ S 18, OAPA: whoever, by any means, unlawfully and maliciously wounds; or unlawfully and
maliciously causes GBH to any person; with the intent to cause GBH to any person; or with
the intent to resist or prevent lawful arrest; will be guilty of an offence under this section.
Thus, there are four possible offences under this section:
• Maliciously wounding a person, with the intent to cause GBH.
• Maliciously wounding a person, with the intent to resist/ prevent arrest.
• Maliciously causing GBH to a person, with the intent to cause GBH.
• Maliciously causing GBH to a person, with the intent to resist/ prevent arrest.
STRUCTURE FOR S. 18 OFFENCE:
A. ACTUS REUS:
A. Wounding:
= Where the accused has unlawfully and maliciously wounded the victim.
• A wound requires an injury to the person by which the skin is broken. If the skin is broken
and there is bleeding, it is a wound.
• This means there a mere burn or scratch does not constitute a wound, even if there is
sufficient blood to form a scab. It will only become a wound when true bleeding occurs,
which signifies that the internal layer has been broken.
Both layers of skin must be broken:
• The external layer of skin, the epidermis, and the internal layer, the dermis, need to be
broken, which leads to bleeding, for there to be a wound.
⇒ Morris: it was emphasised that both layers of skin need to be broken for there to be a wound,
rather than just the surface of the skin.
⇒ Eisenhower (1984): the defendant fired his air pellet gun into a crowd of people. One of the
pellets hit the victim near his eye, which burst a blood vessel under the skin and caused swelling,
redness and internal bleeding. Nonetheless, it did not constitute a wound, because it did not break
the external layer of skin.
⇒ Wood (1830): the victim suffered a broken collarbone, but because it did not pierce the outer
layer of skin, it was not considered to be a wound.
⇒ Waltham (1849): the defendant kicked a police officer in between the legs, which resulting the
bleeding of his urethra. Although it was the internal membrane that was ruptured, it has the form of
skin and thus, was considered to be a wound.
, CRIMINAL LAW REVISION NOTES
! This case exemplifies an exception to the general rule that a wound must break both layers of skin.
The harm-delivering blow that causes the wound does not need to be directly attributable to
the accused (i.e. the wound can be indirect):
• It does not matter if the wound is inflicted without the use of a weapon, such as a gun or
knife, as long as it delivers some sort of blow.
→ For example, if Adam sticks out his foot to trip Eve and as a result, she falls over and cuts her
leg, it will still constitute a wound.
• It is not crucial that the direct cause of the victim’s injury was the defendant’s actions, as long
as the defendant caused that injury to occur to the victim. – the mention of “by any means
whatsoever” in section 18 supports this.
→ For example, Eve eats a chocolate bar that was secreted with razor blades by Adam and
suffers cuts to her mouth. Although the direct cause of her injury is her own eating of the
chocolate bar, Adam still caused it.
⇒ Marsh: the defendant set a dog on the victim. This dog bit the victim’s skin and pierced both
layers and this constituted a wound.
! If there is no wound (e.g. a mere bruise or graze), the offence will fall under section 47 of OAPA
1861, for which the maximum sentence is five years, in comparison to the maximum sentence being
for life under section 18.
B. Causing GBH:
= Where the accused has unlawfully and maliciously caused GBH to the victim.
WHAT IS GBH?
• Grievous bodily harm is, as described in DPP v Smith, is “really serious harm.”
• GBH is caused when there is an unbroken causal link between the accused’s conduct and the
injury concerned.
→ For example, Adam hits Eve over the head. She collapses, ruptures her cartilage, which leads
to her having an imperative surgical repair operation. The operation goes wrong and Eve’s
leg has to be amputated. Adam caused the GBH to Eve and is the legal cause of her injury,
unless the surgery was so abnormal as to break the chain of causation.
WHAT ARE EXAMPLES OF GBH?
• The CPS’ charging standards have given instances of GBH, for the purposes of sections 18
and 20:
- Injuries that result in permanent disability, loss of sensory function or significant visible
disfigurement.
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