Common assault (assault and battery):
Assault can be verbal and the intention to hurt whereas battery is actually the application of
unlawful force. Assault and battery are defined under common law. S.39 criminal justice 1988
mentions them (doesn’t define the acts). This says they are summary offences and the max
custodial sentence is 6 months. Assault - threat of force
Battery - force used
Assault:
AR: an act causing V to apprehend immediate unlawful force.
An act - actions and words (case of Logdon, man went to Vs house demanding money she
supposedly owed, she refused to hand money over and he pulled out a replica gun and said he
would hold her hostage), words alone (case of Constanza, man was obsessed with a woman and
sent her lots of letters and sprayed graffiti on her door, hebargued he didn’t perform an act against
her), silence (case of Ireland, man would call people and stay silent with just heavy breathing).
V apprehends (expects) force - case of Lamb, 2 young boys found their parents revolver gun and
they thought it wasn’t loaded and they were playing a game and one of them killed the other,
neither knew there were bullets so neither expected force. Tuberville v Savage, where there’s an
assault through actions the assault can be negated through words used, in this case there was an
argument and one man put his hand on his sword, he said he wasn’t actually going to draw his
sword. Case of Light, the guy pulled a knife to his wife's throat and was saying if there weren’t
police outside he would kill her, in this case she was still expecting force despite his words so this
wasn’t negated.
Immediate - Smith v CC Woking police case, woman sees a defendant she’d arrested in her
garden staring at her through the window, the fear of what might happen next was sufficiently
immediate.
Unlawful force - MR: intentionally or recklessly causing V to apprehend unlawful force (Spratt).
Battery:
AR: the application of unlawful force
Level of force required - the slightest touch (Collins v Wilock, police were questioning her and
she walked away, he grabbed her wrist and she scratched him trying to get off which was in self
defense, grabbing her wrist was enough force for the battery).
Force must be unlawful - Wilson v Pringle says if you're on a busy bus and someone is bumping
into you, you wouldn’t report it.
Assault can be verbal and the intention to hurt whereas battery is actually the application of
unlawful force. Assault and battery are defined under common law. S.39 criminal justice 1988
mentions them (doesn’t define the acts). This says they are summary offences and the max
custodial sentence is 6 months. Assault - threat of force
Battery - force used
Assault:
AR: an act causing V to apprehend immediate unlawful force.
An act - actions and words (case of Logdon, man went to Vs house demanding money she
supposedly owed, she refused to hand money over and he pulled out a replica gun and said he
would hold her hostage), words alone (case of Constanza, man was obsessed with a woman and
sent her lots of letters and sprayed graffiti on her door, hebargued he didn’t perform an act against
her), silence (case of Ireland, man would call people and stay silent with just heavy breathing).
V apprehends (expects) force - case of Lamb, 2 young boys found their parents revolver gun and
they thought it wasn’t loaded and they were playing a game and one of them killed the other,
neither knew there were bullets so neither expected force. Tuberville v Savage, where there’s an
assault through actions the assault can be negated through words used, in this case there was an
argument and one man put his hand on his sword, he said he wasn’t actually going to draw his
sword. Case of Light, the guy pulled a knife to his wife's throat and was saying if there weren’t
police outside he would kill her, in this case she was still expecting force despite his words so this
wasn’t negated.
Immediate - Smith v CC Woking police case, woman sees a defendant she’d arrested in her
garden staring at her through the window, the fear of what might happen next was sufficiently
immediate.
Unlawful force - MR: intentionally or recklessly causing V to apprehend unlawful force (Spratt).
Battery:
AR: the application of unlawful force
Level of force required - the slightest touch (Collins v Wilock, police were questioning her and
she walked away, he grabbed her wrist and she scratched him trying to get off which was in self
defense, grabbing her wrist was enough force for the battery).
Force must be unlawful - Wilson v Pringle says if you're on a busy bus and someone is bumping
into you, you wouldn’t report it.
