Detailed notes on this element of the criminal law. In-depth explanation of concepts and reference to cases throughout. Useful for coursework/assignments and revision for exams.
5. Non-fatal offnnfe againet thf pfreon
We tend to regard the fie rrnnr al ofennee on a ladder of eerroueneee wrth aeeault and batfrr
on the botoo the leaet eerroue), then aboie that e 47 and e 20 and the ofenne nontrary to e 18
OAPA on the to the ooet eerroue).
Tfnhninal aeeault
The word ‘aeeault’ oay nhange annordrng to nontext;
A tenhnrnal or eynhrn aeeault. Thre neier rnioliee hyernal nontant.
Coooon aeeault. Thre re a nollentie noun rniolirng the ee arate nrroee of tenhnrnal
aeeault and batery.
Defnrtonal eleoente of a tenhnrnal aeeault
Antue Rfue = D doee an ant whrnh naueee V to a rehend the rooedrate a lrnaton of unlawful
irolenne
Mfne Rfa = D rntende to haie the a reheneron referred to rn the Antue Reue, or D foreeeee re
re renkleee) V orght haie eunh an a reheneron
An exao le of tenhnrnal aeeault would be a ereon rarerng hre fet to another, oeanrng the other
re afrard that the fet re gorng to haro hro. It doee not howeier rnnlude thre ty e of anton rf the
other V) hae no ex entaton of berng haroed there and then.
The oarn reeuee
- Worde alone oay aoount to a tenhnrnal aeeault (Conetanza [1997])
- Srlenne oay aoount to an aeeault (Irfland [1998])
- Iooedrate doee not neneeearrly oean rnetantaneouely. In Irfland [1998], fear of an
atank rn ‘a ornute or two’ wae eufnrent to aoount to an aeeault
- A rehend doee not oean fear. It oeane fxpfnt. The irnto oay be rn fear, but V doee
not haie to be afrard for there to be an ex entaton. If V doee not ex ent to be haroed,
there re no tenhnrnal aeeault (Lamb (1967))
Coooon oretakee
- Do not nonfuee fear wrth a reheneron ^ eee laet ornt aboie
- Do not nonfuee an rooedrate a reheneron wrth an a reheneron of rooedrate haro.
For exao le, rf V eaye ‘I now ex ent to be hrt later’, there re no tenhnrnal aeeault eien rf
V re iery afrard of the future haro). BUT, rf V eaye ‘I ex ent to be hrt now, but I ao not
afrard’, the antue reue of a tenhnrnal aeeault re eatefed. *Don’t forget to nonerder re D
eatefee the oene rea too*
- Do not nonfuee a fear of faro wrth a fear of unwanted tounhrng. I.e rf D eaye ‘I ao gorng
to break of our relatonehr ’, thre oay nauee V to fear eootonal u eet, but there re no
aeeault ae V doee not fear berng tounhed by D.
1
, Batfrr
A batery, aleo known ae a phreinal aeeault, re an ant or ooreeron whrnh alwaye rnioliee hyernal
nontant between D and V although rt orght be rndrrent), but rt doee neneeearrly rnnlude any
haro to V.
TIP* If haro re naueed you ehould be nonerderrng an ofenne under OAPA rnetead of, or ae well
ae, a batery.
The ueual exao le of a batery re where D hrte V, but a noooonly nrted exao le re an unwanted
kree.
Defnrtonal eleoente of batery
Antue rfue = D a lree a forne to V
Mfne rfa = D rntende to a ly unlawful forne, or D foreeeee re D re renkleee) that he orght a ly
unlawful forne
The oarn reeuee
Any unlawful tounhrng oay be a batery (Thomae (1985))
There need not be an rnjury for there to be a batery, but iery ornor rnjurree are ofen nharged
ae baterree rather than one of the etatutory nrroee CPS Chargrng Standarde – note theee do not
haie legal efent).
It re oeerble to nooort a batery rndrrently, for exao le through an objent or by uehrng
eooeone rnto the irnto (Haretfad v Chiff Conetablf of Dfrbrehirf [2001])
It re oeerble to nooort a batery through ooreeron an omieeion wrll nonettute an antue reue
and grie rree to lrabrlrty only when the law ro oeee a duty to ant and the defendant re rn breanh
of that duty).
Coneent
Coneent re a defenne to aeeault and batery, but oay be a defenne to the oore eerroue etatutory
nrroee noorng u next) only rn nertarn ertuatone, eo rt re ueeful to nonerder the defenne at thre
etage. The beet way to tankle the noo lex reeuee re to anewer a few fundaoental queetone;
Whfn ie nonefnt a ‘dfffnnf’?
V’e noneent, that re therr wrllrngneee to haie hyernal nontant wrth D wrll ueually oean that the
hyernal nontrant re not a nrroe. Howeier, V’e noneent ouet be ialrd and re not alwaye allowed
by the law for exao le rf the V re hrghly rntoxrnated).
Whr ie ‘dfffnnf’ in invfrtfd nommae?
If V noneented to the nontant, rt re, by defnrton, not unlawful. Coneent re therefore not a
defenne rneofar ae D hae to roie rt, or rneofar ae the antue reue and oene rea nan be
eetablrehed rnde endently but then lrabrlrty re exnueed benauee of V’e noneent. Rather, noneent
negatee the unlawfulneee of the nondunt and therefore there re no antue reue.
2
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