Topic 5
Topic 5
Non-fatal
offences test
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Question 1
What is common assault?
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Answer 1
Often, the offences of assault and battery occur
at the same time. This is know as common
assault.
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Question 2
How is ABH defined in the case of R v Chan Fook?
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Answer 2
Lord Justice Hobhouse said in the Court of Appeal
that ‘the word “actual” indicates that the injury
(although there is no need for it to be
permanent) should not be so trivial as to be
wholly insignificant’.
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Question 3
What happened in Smith v Chief Superintendent,
Woking Police Station (1983)?
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Answer 3
The victim was at home in her ground-floor flat
dressed in her nightdress. She was terrified when
she suddenly saw the defendant standing in her
garden, staring at her through the window. The
court held that he was liable for assault, on the
grounds that the victim feared immediate
infliction of force, even though she was safely
locked inside the building.
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Question 4
Who wrote the Joint Charging Standards?
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Answer 4
The police and the Crown Prosecution Service
wrote the Joint Charging Standards.
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Question 5
What does it mean when a person ‘negates’ his or
her assault?
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Answer 5
There is no assault if it is obvious to the victim that the
defendant cannot or will not carry out his or her threat
of violence. In Tuberville v Savage (1669), annoyed by
someone’s comments to him, the defendant put his
hand on his sword, which by itself would have been
enough to constitute an assault. However, at the same
time he said: ‘If it were not assize time I would not take
such language.’ This meant that since judges were
hearing criminal cases in town at the time, he had no
intention of using violence. His statement negated the
threat.
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Question 6
Can words alone constitute an assault?
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Answer 6
For many years, the courts have debated whether words can
amount to an assault. In R v Meade and Belt (1823), people
were gathered around a house and started to sing menacing
songs and to use violent language. Judge Holroyd said that ‘no
words or singing are equivalent to an assault’. However in R v
Wilson (1955), Lord Goddard stated of the accused: ‘He called
out “Get out the knives”, which itself would be an assault.’ As
Wilson is a more recent case, this outcome is preferred.
More recently, the House of Lords has decided that a silent
telephone call can constitute an assault. If the psychological
injury is significant, this could even constitute ABH or GBH (R v
Ireland, R v Burstow, 1997).
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Question 7
What is the mens rea required for s.20 GBH?
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Answer 7
The mens rea of s.20 GBH is described by the word
‘maliciously’. In R v Cunningham (1957), it was
stated that for purposes of the 1861 Act,
‘maliciously’ meant ‘intentionally or recklessly’.
There is no need to intend GBH or wounding, or to
be reckless as to whether GBH or wounding might
be caused. The defendant needs only intend or be
reckless that his or her actions could cause some
physical damage, e.g. R v Grimshaw (1984) and
R v Parmenter (1991).
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Question 8
What are the different sentences for each of the
non-fatal offences?
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Answer 8
Assault: 6 months’ imprisonment
Battery: 6 months’ imprisonment
ABH: 5 years’ imprisonment
Section 20 GBH: 5 years’ imprisonment
Section 18 GBH: up to life imprisonment
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Question 9
Name three criticisms of the current non-fatal
offences.
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Answer 9
Wording, sentencing, inconsistency
or common law.
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Question 10
Name two reports that have suggested changes
to the current non-fatal offences.
Topic 5
Non-fatal offences test
Answer 10
The Law Commission Report 1993
and the Home Office Report 1998.