Offences Against the Person & Sexual Offences

?
Common Assault and Battery are Two Separate Crimes
Section 39 Criminal Justice Act 1988 and S47 of the Offences Against the Persons Act 1981
1 of 49
Define Common Assault
putting someone in fear of immediate force (although CPS Charging Standards state an attack causing grazes, scratches, minor bruising, reddening of the skin, a black eye etc should come under CA)
2 of 49
Define Battery
an actual infliction of force to a person
3 of 49
Trying CA and Battery
Both these offences are only triable summarily, and subject to a maximum six months imprisonment.
4 of 49
Technical Assault
The Defendant must have intentionally or recklessly caused the victim to apprehend imminent force. Actus Reus: The victim need not be placed in “fear” in the sense of being frightened, and they need only apprehend an attack in any degree of force.
5 of 49
Technical Assault - Ireland; Burstow [1998]
the D made repeated silent phone calls, with occasional heavy breathing: he was charged with assault occasioning actual body harm. o Lord Steyn: “I reject the proposition that an assault can never be committed by words”
6 of 49
Technical Assault - Tuberville v Savage [1669]
Words can negate an assault. The D put his hand on his sword but said he wasn’t going to use it, so could not be liable. A conditional threat could still be liable however in Read v Coker [1853], i.e leave or ill break your neck, is till assault.
7 of 49
Technical Assault - Bentham [2004]
As long as the V is made to fear an attack, he cannot be expected to know whether the threat is real or not.
8 of 49
Mens Rea of Technical Assault
The D must intentionally or recklessly cause their victim to apprehend the infliction of immediate force (Venna [1976]). – Subjective Cunningham Test (Spratt [1990]).
9 of 49
S43(1) Telecommunications Act 1984 - Stalking
It is an offence to make an indecent, obscene or menacing call or persistently use a telephone to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety. Section 1(1) Malicious Communications Act is essentially the same for letters.
10 of 49
Sentencing Stalking
Both of these are Summary Offences, carrying a maximum six month jail term.
11 of 49
Section 1 Protection from Harassment Act 1997
creates the offence of pursuing a course of conduct (at least twice) which amounts to harassment of another and which the D knows or ought to know amounts to harassment.
12 of 49
Section 4 (1) Protection from Harassment Act 1997
created pursuing a course of conduct (at least twice) which causes another to fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against them. [DPP v Ramos] held the state of mind of the victims is crucial rather than the statistical chance
13 of 49
Battery Actus Reus
Actus Reus – the D must inflict unlawful personal force. Pringle [1986] defined force as “an intentional touching or contact in one form or another by the plaintiff. That touching must be proved to be hostile touching”.
14 of 49
Battery by Omission
Santana-Bermudez, the needle pocket case, “where someone creates a danger and thereby exposes another to a reasonably foreseeable risk of injury which materialises, there is an evidential basis for the actus reus of an assault occasioning ABH"
15 of 49
Battery Mens Rea
Venna [1976] – “the D intentionally or recklessly applied force to the person of another”. Subjective Cunningham Test.
16 of 49
Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm Actus Reus
: 1. there must be a technical assault, or a battery 2. This must occasion or cause actual bodily harm 3. The assault must cause actual bodily harm.
17 of 49
Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm Sentencing
Maximum Sentence of Five years and is triable either way. Magistrates courts SG’s provide the starting point is a high level community order with a sentencing ranfe of medium level community order – 26 weeks custody.
18 of 49
Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm - DPP v Smith [2006]
The D was liable for cutting off the ponytail of a girl.
19 of 49
Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm - Ireland; Burstow [1998]
ABH is capable of including psychiatric injury. Daliwhal [2006] held it must be a recognisable psychological injury.
20 of 49
Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm - Mens Rea
S47 Offences Against the Person Act? makes no express reference to an MR requirement, but it is settled liability is establish if the D has the mens rea of common assault
21 of 49
Offences Against the Person Act 1861 S20
Whoever shall unlawfully or maliciously wound or inflict any GBH upon any other person, either with or without any weapon or instrument, shall be guilty [of an offence punishable up to a term not exceeding five years imprisonment].
22 of 49
Actus Reus GBH/Malicious Wounding
Must be a wounding or infliction of GBH. A wound necessitates that the continuity of whole skin be broken. CPS Charging Standard states the wound must be serious.
23 of 49
GBH - Bollom [2004]
Whether an injury can amount to GBH will also depend on the vulnerability of the victim
24 of 49
Mens Rea GBH/Malicious Wounding
S20 includes the word “maliciously”, which it is accepted is synonymous with reckless. The D only must foresee some physical harm (Mowatt [1967]).
25 of 49
Offences against the Persons Act 1861 S18
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
26 of 49
Offences against the Persons Act 1861 S18 - Wounding and Causing Grevious Bodily Harm with Intent Sentencing
Max Life Imprisonment
27 of 49
AR and MR of GBH with Intent
Actus Reus – “wound” and “GBH” have the same meaning in S20. “Cause” has never been held to imply that the injury need to be a result of the common assault (Wilson). Mens Rea – “Maliciously with intent”.
28 of 49
GBH with Intent Define Maliciously
“must at least foresee some possibility of harm”. With Intent means the D must either intend GBH or to resist arrest (Nedrick definition).
29 of 49
R v Bree [2007]
o As a matter of practical reality, capacity to consent might evaporate well before a complainant became unconscious but a drunken consent is still consent
30 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 ss74
A person consents if he agrees by choice, and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice
31 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 ss76 - Conclusive Presumptions
If ... it is proved that the D did the relevant act and that any of the circumstances in ** (2) existed, it is to be conclusively presumed a) C did not consent to the relevant act, and b) D did not believe C consented
32 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 ss76 - Conclusive Presumptions SS2
SS2: The circumstances are that: a) the D intentionally deceived C as to the nature or purpose of the relevant act; b) the D intentionally induced C to consent ...by impersonating a person known personally to C
33 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 ss76 - Conclusive Presumptions - Jheeta [2007]
o CA held no conclusive presumption arose merely because the complainant was deceived in some way or other by disingenuous blandishments, or common garden lies, by the D (Still convicted in this case as he concocte a scheme which removed free choice)
34 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 ss76 - Conclusive Presumptions - R v Devonald [2008]
- This case involved a 16 year old boy who had an online relationship with (unbeknown to him) his ex-gf dad. - The dad got the boy to engage in sexual acts on a webcam. This led to a S76 deception, as he was deceived to the purpose of the act.
35 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 ss76 - Conclusive Presumptions - R v B [2013]
The wide definition of S76 purpose, led to the judge’s ruling that Jheeta should be followed over Devonald in the event of a conflict (para 19)
36 of 49
R v Clarence - 2 Situations which negate consent
1. Impersonation of husband or boyfriend, and must have induced the complainant to consent 2. Induced by fraud, for example in Flattery the D induced a woman to submit to intercourse by claiming it was a surgical procedure.
37 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 ss75 - Evidential Presumption
If... it is proved a) that the D did the relevant act, b) that any of the circumstances in (2) existed, and c) that the D knew those circumstances existed, C is taken not to have consented
38 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 ss75(2)
The Circumstances that lead to ****
39 of 49
R v Ciccarelli [2011] EWCA Crim 2665
some evidence beyond the fanciful or speculative had to be adduced to support the reasonableness of his belief in consent.
40 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 S1
****
41 of 49
R. [1992]
the law that husbands can be guilty of ****** their wife, although Giles described this as Judicial Activism and none of their business.
42 of 49
**** Mens Rea - S1 SOA 2003
The penetration/sexual touching … is intentional. A does not reasonably believe that B consents. o Whether a belief is reasonable is to be determined having regard to all the circumstances, including any steps A has taken to ascertain whether B cons
43 of 49
**** Mens Rea - R v B [2013] EWCA Crim 3
took the clear view that delusional beliefs cannot render a reasonable belief in consent.
44 of 49
**** Mens Rea -R v Grewal [2010] EWCA Crim 2448
The CoA held that the trial judge had very well distinguished between the appellant’s honest beliefs, where his drunkenness may be relevant, and whether that belief is reasonable, where its not relevant and one looks at the matter as if he were sober
45 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 S2
Assualt by Penetration (Max Life Imprisonment)
46 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 S2 - AR and MR
AR: 1. Penetration (V or A with anything) 2. Sexual 3. No Consent MR: No reasonable belief in consent and intention to penetrate
47 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 S3
Sexual Assault
48 of 49
Sexual Offences Act 2003 S4
Intentionally causing someone to engage in sexual activity
49 of 49

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Define Common Assault

Back

putting someone in fear of immediate force (although CPS Charging Standards state an attack causing grazes, scratches, minor bruising, reddening of the skin, a black eye etc should come under CA)

Card 3

Front

Define Battery

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Trying CA and Battery

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Technical Assault

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar All resources:

See all All resources »See all Criminal Law 4 resources »