S.18 Offences Against the Person Act- GBH with intent

Section.18 OAPA 1861
(GBH with intent)…read more

Definition
· "Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously by
any means whatsoever wound or cause any GBH
to any person, with intent to do some GBH to any
person, or with intent to resist or prevent the
lawful apprehension or detainer of any person,
shall be guilty of an offence"
· Wounding/causing GBH with intent found under s.
18 OAPA often referred as `wounding with
intent'.
· Indictable offence with maximum sentence life
imprisonment.…read more

Actus Reus
· Wounding OR
· Causing grievous bodily harm
· The meanings of wound and GBH are the
same as s.20. The word `cause' is very wide
and therefore it is only necessary to prove D's
act was a substantial cause of the wound or
GBH.…read more

Mens Rea
· This is a specific intent offence. The D must be
proved to have intended to:
a) Do some grievous bodily harm OR
b) Resist or prevent the lawful apprehension
or detainer of any person.…read more

Intent to do some grievous bodily harm
· Intention must be proved for a s.18 offence;
recklessness is not enough for the mens rea.
· `Intention' has the same meaning as shown in the
leading cases on murder.
· Where the D is trying to resist or prevent arrest or
detention then the level of intention regarding the
injury is lower. The P must prove that he had
intention to resist or prevent, but as for the injury
only need to prove that he was reckless as to
whether his actions would cause a wound or
injury. This was decided in Morrison (1989).…read more

Cases
· Morrison (1989)- A police officer seized hold
of D and told him that he was going to arrest
him. He dived through a window dragging her
with him and she was badly cut by the glass.
The prosecution must prove that the D either
intended injury or realised there was a risk of
injury and took that risk (Cunningham-
`maliciously'- subjective recklessness) .…read more