Assaults- actusreus t!1p://sixthforrnlaw.info/0 1 assua-..

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breakingboth layers of the skin or "grievousbodily

harm'.
DPP v Smith [196U "grievousmeans no more and
no lessthan 'really serious"',
R v Saunders [1985] the word "seriously"could
safely be omitted,
R v Janiua (1998); R v Choudhury (1998) the
trialjudge should decidewhether or not to include
"really"
R v Brown & Stratton lL99Bf
whether the injury amountsto grievousor merely
actual bodily harm is to be judged objectively
accordingto the standards of ordinary usage and
experience.

Grievous Bodily SectionlS: "Whosoevershall unlawfully and

Harm with intent maliciously by any means whatsoever wound or
Sections 18 cause any grievous bodily harm to any person with
intent to do some grievous bodily harm to any
person or with intent to resist or prevent the lawful
apprehensionor detainer of any person,shall be
guilty of an offenee,and being csnvicted theresf
shall be liable to imprisonmentfor life"

Thereare four offencesunder this section:

(a) Woundor (b) causeany grievousbodilyharm to
any person

with intent to do somegrievousbodily

harm to any person

and
,
or with intent to resist or prevent the
lawfulapprehension or detainerof any
p e rs o n . . .

CPS Code
Section 18
The greater rnens rea requirement in section 18
means that it should be reserved for the more
serious cases,as where there is:
a repeated or planned attack; deliberate selection of
a weapon or adaptation of an article to cause injury,
such as breakinga glassbefore an attack; making
prior threats; or using an offensive weapon against,
or kicking,the victim's head.

Note also that the ulterior intent in section 18 may

consist of an intent to resist or prevent the lawful
apprehensionor detainer of any person,and in
these easesthere must obviously be evidence of
such an intent.
I Assaults- actusreusandmensrea al3_50_non-fttaU02-acilr..
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TH:?:lff'Sixth Form Law *;::"J:$:,T'

Assaults - actus reus and mens
rea t

Home I Dictionary I Pastpapers I CasesI ModulesI Exam dates I National

Gotgle- o
--J searct'
I Casesfor this topic, here I
lINex t]
Assault and battery
Two separate and distinct offences

CommonAssault r An assault is any act by which someone,

Sec 39 Criminal intentionally or recklessly, causes another
Justice Act 1988 person to apprehend immediate and
personal violence.

Faaan v MPC

Battely, o Any intentional or reckless touching of

Sec 39 Criminal another person without the consent of
Justice Act 1988 that person and without lawful excuse.

R v Brown (L993) HL

The force may be the merest touch.

Usualfor both to occur at the same time. No assault

if 'victim' is unaware before battery takes place. E.g.
threat behind a person'sback.

Lawful excuse can include:

Parentalauthority,
Self-defence.

Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm (AOABH) Offences Against

the Person Act 1861

Soction 47 r Provides that it is an offence to commit

Offences Against '... any assault occasioning actual bodily
the Penson Act harm...'
1861
CPSguidelines= Lessthan GBH and any degreeof
bodily harm is enough.

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LOl212008 AssaulG- actusreusand mensrea
Guilty of ABH but not Sec 29 wounding

Ireland. R v lL998J [Assault ABH - no need to show injury is

HL foreseeable - strict liability - different in Sec 2Ol
Thrcats were rnadeby letter or by telephone. D need
not intendor foresee- nor have any reasonto
foresee- that V will suffer psychiatricinjury.
Brt the rnensrea for ABHis establishedif D intendsor
forcseesthat V nty be frightened into apprehending
irrrrediateviolence - just the assault (or battery).

Wounding IGBH without intent (section 2O)

Section 2O Unlawfuland nuliciouswounding or inflicting any

grievousbodilyharmuponany person,eitherwith or
withoutany weaponor instrument.No intent required.
Two offences

o Seriousbodilyharmor
o breakingthe skin (a wound).

A bruise,bum or scratch is not a wound nor the

breakingof a bone if the skin not broken.

Beedingfrcm the woundis necessary.

Actus reus [Actus rcus]

requires a wound Woundingrequircsthe brcakingof the continuityof
or inf,iction of the whole of the skin (demis and epidermis)or the
GBH breakingof the innerskin within the cheelg lip or
urcthra (Smith (1837) and Waltham (1849).

It does not includethe rupturingof internalblood

vessels QJC (A Minor) v EisenhowerU983J).

GPSCharying [Actus rcus]

Standards Evena pin pricknay qualify,but the Charging
Standards will not allow for nfnor wounds.

Grievous bodily [Actus reusJ

harm is not GBHhas been intetpretedas nreaningno rpre and no
defined less than realfyseriousharm (DPPv Smith L796I1;
Cunningham[1981]; cf. Saunders[19851).

The ChargingStandardslists exanples.

Psychiatricinjury or illnessrnay involve really serious
harm (R v lreland U9987 HL) but its cause and effect
ndo/o20Setti...
tile:| | | C:I Dwumqntso/o2Oa 417
10l2l2008 Assaults- actusreusand mensrea
will need to be proved as above for ABH.

'Inflict'means [Actus reus]

much the same as In lrelandt19981HL LordSteyn, heldthat harmcould
'cause'. be inflictedwithout an assault.

Tlrere is no need 'Cause'and'inflict'nrcanmlch the sarne.

for an 'assault' in
Sec 2O

'Qausing'and [Actus reus]

'Inflicting'GBH GBHcan be inflictedby nnans of nenacingtelephone
calls which gave rise to seriouspsychiatricinjury'
whether or not the injury was causedby fear of
inrrinent physicalattack. (Ireland)

Lord Hopesaid there was no real practicaldifference

betweenthe two words

LordSteyn and LordHopeboth appearto have

stoppedjust shoft of ovemrlingthe authorityof
Clarence(t888\, where grievousbodily harm was
caused,but not inflicted. (D without waminghis wife
infectedher with a venerealdisease)but

Clarencecan no longersafelybe reliedupon (see

now, Drca(2003).

Sec 2O requircs [Mens rea]

'maliciously'. Maliciously rneansintentionallyor recklessly.To do
sorre kind of bodily harm. Recklessness is subjective
in the Cunningham sense.

The harm [Mens rcaI

intended or D need not intendor foreseethe causingor inflicting
foreseen of a wound or grievousbodilYharm

To foreseethat ninor injury"might" occur will suffice

(Mowatt 119681and Sullivan [19811&DPP v A
(2 000) ) .

If D was unawar€that his conductmightcauseany

injury at all (SavaaeLL992Dthere is no mens rea-
untessvoluntaryintoxicatedbecauseit is a crinreof
basicintent.

WoundinglcBH with intent (section 18)

ndo/o2OSetti...
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frle',
LOl2l2008 Assaults- actusreusand mensrea
the prosecutor. Such hurt or injury need
not,be permanent, but must, no doubt,
be more than merely transient and
trifling."

Crown [Actus Reus]

Prcsecuting ABHincludesnfnor cuts and bruises,althoughthe
charying ChargingStandardsagreedbetweenthe policeand
Standards the CPSdo not endorcethe bringingof s. 47 charges
in the absenceof npre seriousinjuries,such as
brokenteeth, extensivebruisingor cuts etc., which
requirerredicaltreatnent.

Includes [Actus Reus]

Psychiatric injury Psychiatricinjurythat is rncrethan nrerefear or
anxiety is included(Chan-FookLt9947 and lreland
l 1 9 9 Br ) .

Psychiatricinjury is nonnallycausedby assault,rather

than by any battery.

Injury m;st be prcved by expeft psychiatricevidence

(Chan-Fook) and proofthat D'sassaultcausedthe
injury.

Includes In R v Dica t20031the infecting of two wornenwith

biological injury AIDSwas heldto amountto GrievousBodilyHarm.
This rendercthe case of R v Clarence(1888) to be
bad law.

Mens nea same as [Mens rca]

for assault or The causingof actual bodilyharm requiresno
battery additionalrrens rea.

Savage Rv tt992J fAssault ABH - no need to show injury is

HL foreseeable - strict liability - different in Sec 2Ol
ff injury is D ained to throw the contents of a beer glassover V,
caused, it need but inadvertentlyallowedthe glassto slip from her
not even be hand injuringV.
prowed that the
injury was Held: A convictionfor rnalicious woundingcould not
foreseeable, be sustainedin the absenceof proof that D had at
because this least foreseenthe possibilityof injury to V.
element of the Thrcwingbeer over V was an intentionalassault- in
offence is one of fact deed a battery - and that sanreassaulthad
strict liability. resultedin V's injury.

ndo/o20Setti...
file:I / | C:I WumentsYo20a 317
- acfusreusandmemrea hp: //sfurthformlaw.info/0 a/3-50-non-fataV02
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penalty
a higher maximum
maiimum Penalty.

Must involve an [Actus Reusl

assault or Assault or battery must occasion (i.e' caused) the
battery, must be victim actual bodily harm.
foreseeable
Such injury cannot ordinarily be consentedto.
As long as there was a direct assault or battery, it
does not matter if the bodily harm was suffered
indirectly.In Roberfs(1971) D assaulteda young
woman in his car, and frightened her to the extent
that she leapedfrom it to escapewhilst it was still in
motion; she sufferedinjuries as a result.
Guilty and StephensonU said

"The test is: was [her injury] the natural

result of what [D] said and did, in the
sense that it was something that auld
reasonably have been foreseen as the
consequenceof what he was saying or
doing."

H v Director of D, with others, attackedV. D causedan injury when

Public he forced the victim to the ground, it was
Prosecutions 12A071 inconceivablethat the victim striking his head on
DC the kerb had not causedany injury. V suffered other
injuries.

Held: When determiningwhether the defendantwas

guilty of assaultoccasioningactual bodily harm, it
was not necessaryfor justices to identify the
particular injury that had been causedprovided that
they were satisfied that some injury had been
caused by striking the victim.

Guilty
[ Back lINe x t]
Any iniury [Actus Regs]
calculated to Actual Bodily Harm meansany injury which is
interfere with 'calculatedto interfere with the health or comfort of
health and the [victiml' (R v Donovan per Swift J).
comfort
"For this purpose we think that "bodily
harm" has its ordinary meaning and
includes any hurt or injury calculated to
interfere with the health or comfort of
the prosecutor. Such hurt or injury need
not be permanent, but must, no doubt,
be more than merely transient and
trifling."

7:53AM
lOl2l2OO8
10l2noas Assaults- actusreusand mensrea
Section 18 Whosoevershallunlawfullyand rnaliciously by any
reans whatsoeverwound or cause any grievous
bodilyharmto any personwith intent to do sotre
grievousbodilyharmto any percon,or with intent to
resistor preventthe lawfulapprehension or detainer
of any person,shallbe guilty of [an offence], and
beingconvictedthereof shallbe liableto
Iirprisonrrent] for life.

Four difierent woundingwith intent to do grievousbodily

forms harm;
causinggrievousbodilyharmwith intent to do
so;
rmliciouslywoundingwith intent to rcsist or
preventthe lawfulapprehension etc. of any
person;or
nnliciouslycausinggrievousbodilyharmwith
intent to resistor prevent lawfulapprehension
etc. of any penson.

'Wound'and [Actus neus same as section 2O]

'grievous bodily Dscussedabove in the context of the decisionin
hatm' Ireland lt9991 There is no significantdifference
between'causing'injuryin casesunders.18nnd
'inflicting'injury in cases unders.20.

This nreansthat the actus rcus elernentsof the two

offences are for rnst purposesthe saffE.

The differcnce lies [Mens rca]

in the specific If D acted with intent to do grievousbodilyharm,the
intent rcquircd concept of rnaliciousness is renderedotiose (Mowatt
under s.18, r-1e681).

Where [Mens rea]

'maliciously'is WhereD nerely intendedto resist arrest etc.,
relevant. (intention- recklessness
'rnaliciousness' - foresight)
needsto be proved.

So if D pullsfrce frcm a PCwho is anesting him and

does not foreseethat the PCwould be injured,he has
not acted rnaliciouslyand coulfl not be convicted
unders.18.

If he intendedor foresaw thqfi he would cause sorre

nfnor injury, he would have acted nuliciously.

The arrest or detention rnrst be lawful (Howafth

(1828)).
file:I I I C:I Dxumenbo/o20a
ndolo2OSetti...
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a/3_50

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Assault
Section39 CriminalJusticeAct 19BB

An assaultis any act by which someone,intentionallyor

recklessly,causesanother personto apprehendimmediate
and personalviolence."Commonassaultand battery shall be
summary offencesand a personguilty of either of them shall
be liable to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard
scale, to imprisonment for a term not exceedingsix months,
or to both."

Battery
Section39 CriminalJusticeAct 1988

Any intentional or recklesstouching of another persn

without the consent of that person and without lawful
excuse.

Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm

Section 47 OffencesAqainst the PersonAct 1861

Whosoevershall be convicted upon an indictment of any

assaultoccasioningactual bodily harm shall be liable . . . to
[imprisonmentfor five years].

llYounding or inflicting GBH

Section 20 OffencesAqainst the PersonAct 1861

Whosoevershall unlawfully and maliciouslywound or inflict

any grievousbodily harm upon any other person,either with
or without any weaponor instrument, shall be guilty of [an
offencel, and being convicted thereof shall be liable to
[imprisonment for not more than five years]

Wounding or causing GBH with intent

Section 18 Offences the PersonA6,n861

Whosoevershall unlawfully and maliciouslyby dhy means

whatsoever wound or cause any grievome-fodilyharm to any

I of3 lOl2l2OO8
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http://sixthformlaw.infoi0

personwith intent to do some grievous bodily harm to any

person,or with intent to resist or prevent the lawful
apprehensionor detainer of any person,shall be guilty of [an
offencel, and being convictedthereof shall be liable to
[imprisonment]for life.

\ctus vlens 4ens to what ) does not have to

3y words/actions; tntention/ :ear of immediate rave the mens to
iec 39 Assault
)irect or indirect lecklessness riolence :ause specific
A/ilson v MPC njury, namely
-aoan 'Applicationof
iec 39 Battery 3y application of .ntention/ ;he.....
brce; lecklessness 'orce Venna)
)irect or indirect )rown
3ec 47 \ssault Occasion .ntention/ .No more needed SpecificABH
\BH icausing[objective {ecklessness :han the assaultor Injury
riew Robertsl )attery Savage)
njury by assault
ncludes battery
-rtfle & Lvndsev)
ino battery
recessry
ionstanza and
'reland)
,... any hurt or
njury calculatedtc
nterfere with the
realth or comfort
.. Miller'l
iec 20 fi/ound iMaliciouslymeanslnflict some ipecific Wounding
A/ounding 3y battery 'intention or rhysicalharm
'ecklessness" t4owatt
iunninaham)
[and subjective
oresight of
:onsequences
t4owatt and
iavaoe\
iec 20 tnflict (cause) !4aliciously nflict some harm ierious harm
3BH 3B H; [intention or
recklessness)
[Inflict and cause iunningham
lave same
neaning Lord
lope in Burstow)

[Assaultnot
necessaryWilson)

fApplicationof
torce not now
requirede.g.
3SCaOeCaSeS,
*alkinq cases)

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(inflict) ndingwith se GBH does require

BH Assault not ntent to do mens rea
the 4 offences
Sect 18 each
now required sing grievous a specific
.9. escapecases, ily harm with nt.
ng cases ntent to do so some harm.
nflict and ctuse y cause
same bodily
ing;Lord arm with intent
in Burstow) resist arrest etc.

liciouslycausi
rievous bodily
rm with intent

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