Battery s.39CJA1988

A battery is a criminal offence under S.39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and carries a maximum six month sentence.

ACTUS REUS

The actus reus of a battery is the application of unlawful force. 

There is no actual requirement for "violence", all that is required is that the defendant touches the victim unlawfully. For example, in R v Thomas, the defendant touched a woman's skirt and that was held to be a battery.

Battery can also be indirect, as shown in R v Maystead where the defendant punched a woman who was holding a child, the child was dropped and the defendant was convicted of battery against the…