s47 ABH

• Charged under what Act?

  s47 Offences Against the Person Act 1861
• Define s47 ABH

  An assault (or battery) which caused actual bodily harm to V and D intends or is subjectively reckless as to whether V fears unlawful force or is actually subjected to unlawful force.
• 1. Assault (or battery)

  Must prove either:

  • D acted in a way which caused the V to apprehend immediate unlawful force.

  OR

  • D applied unlawful force to V
• 2. Occasioning

  Means "leading to".

  Did D's act cause the ABH?

  Must consider Factual Causation (Pagett), Legal Causation (Kimsey), Thin Skull Rule (Blaue) and Intervening Acts (Jordan, Roberts).
• 3. Actual Bodily Harm

  'Any hurt or injury calculated to interfere with the health or comfort of the victim' (Miller).

  "Actual" - must be a form of physical or psychological injury.

  "Harm" - Need not be serious.

  Examples: Psychiatric harm (Chan Fook) - not mere emotions (fear etc). Loss of consciousness (T v DPP), bruising, grazes, cutting of hair (DPP v Smith).
• 4. s47 ABH - MR

  Uses same MR as assault/battery.

  D does not need to intend or be reckless regarding the ABH caused.