assault

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Created by
kiera kennedy

Cards (5)

  • DEFINITION
    Collins V Wilcock, Lord Goff: ‘an act which causes the victim to apprehend immediate unlawful force’. 
  • ACTUS REUS 
    Stage 1: the defendant must have committed an act. This can be words, gestures, or even silence (Ireland). SIDE RULE: written words can amount to assault (Constanza).
  • ACTUS REUS
    Stage 2: the act must cause the victim to apprehend force. This is subjective- if there is no apprehension there is no assault (Lamb). SIDE RULE: jokes can amount to assault so long as the defendant apprehends force (Logden)
  • ACTUS REUS
    Stage 3: the threat of force must be immediate- this is subjective (Smith v the Chief of Woking Police). SIDE RULE: words can negate assault i.e. ‘I would kill you if the sheriff wasn’t in town!’ (Tuberville V Savage).
  • MENS REA
    Basic intent offense (Venna): intention (Mohan) or recklessness (Cunningham) to do an act that causes the victim to apprehend immediate, unlawful force.