Evaluation of assault Flashcards
(4 cards)
Assault
Common law so not part of an act of parliament and not easily accessible, no statutory definition
But it was recognised and charged by Parliament in the Criminal Justice Act 1988 section 39
Inconsistency in sentencing: assault has 6 months while ABH has 5 years while the only difference is whether an injury has been suffered
Minor jostling’s of everyday life (Wilson v Pringle) are not considered as assault otherwise there would be a floodgate of cases sent to court
Doesn’t give a definition of immediate
Smith v Wokins police – immediate doesn’t mean instantaneous it means immanent - so immediately is misleading
R v Savage – what he said negated the assault as he told the victim he didn’t need to be fearful as he’s not going to do something
Battery
Slightest of touch (Collins v Wilcock) is not battery otherwise floodgate of cases sent to court
Force is misleading – can be lightest of touches
Protects people from unwanted contact (R v Thomas)
Battery can be indirect (DPP c K) is fair as it is still unwanted contact and need to protect the victim
Same sentencing as assault but there is contact for battery but not for assault, but they are considered very similar as there is similar consequences so silent phone calls and threatening letters may cause just as much problems as the slightest of touches
GBH
Grevious is archaic and an old term, so judges needed to update it
Really serious harm (DPP v Smith) to just serious harm that need not be life threatening (R v Saunders)
Malicious is also archaic as you do not need to show any ill faith towards the victim so its misleading
R v Miller – any hurt or injury calculated to interfere with the health of the victim – could be anything
Big jump in sentencing from 5 years for S20 and life for S18 for GBH
Wounding and GBH are 2 different things but come under the same offence which makes it confusing so why don’t we have two different offences, but often wounding and GBH come hand in hand e.g. stabbing someone is GBH but also causes a wound
Wounding is the breaking of the inner and outer of skin so why shouldn’t that be considered serious harm
