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Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person - Assault - Coggle Diagram
Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person - Assault
Common law offence charged under s.39 criminal act 1988
Assault must be an act not an omissions
Sending letters (Constanza)
Silent phone calls (Ireland)
Acts include:
Any act that causes the victim immediate unlawful violence
Gestures
Apprehend
Immediate does not mean instantaneous, but means imminent - very near future (Smith v Woking police station)
A conditional threat is sufficient for assault (Read v Corker)
The victim does not have to be afraid but they must believe that the defendant is capable of applying force (Lamb)
However, if there are words indicating that there will be no violence then this may prevent it from being assault (Tuberville v Savage - no assault) (Light - was asault)
Unlawful violence
It must be unlawful violence
It may be lawful i he victim gives genuine consent, or if it is in self-defence
mens rea
Intention is the defendants aim or purpose (Mohan)
REcklessness is where the defendant recognised the risk and took it anyways (Cunningham)
Intention or recklessness as to the actus reus