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OCR A-Level Law
OCR Criminal Law
Actual Bodily Harm
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Cards (11)
Assault Occasioning Bodily Harm
Not a
standalone
offence
There must be an
initial
assault
or
battery
which has led to harm being done
Could be
causation
issues as one thing must result in another
Harm can be
physical
or
psychiatric
Low-medium
level harm
MR is only the MR of the
assault
or
battery
which led to the harm, nothing else needs to be proven
Triable
Either
Way offence
S47
Offences Against the Person Act
1861
Assault
Element
Either an
assault
and/or
battery
Same case law as usual applied to establish this
Occasioning Element
Means the same as
causation
Normal rules of causation –
Factual
/
Legal
If there is a direct/physical attack then causation is
immediately
established
Miller: '"Any
hurt
or
injury
calculated to interfere with the
health
or
comfort
of the victim"
Psychiatric
Harm
Can be ABH
Mere
emotion
such as panic, fear, and distress will not suffice
Needs to amount to a clinical condition
Mens Rea
Is the mens rea for the
assault
or
battery
, nothing more
No mens rea needed for further
harm
Chan-Fook: "Not so
trivial
as to be wholly
insignificant
"
Smith: "A
substantial
amount of
hair
is to be treated as part of the body"
T v DPP: "Momentary
unconsciousness
"
Physical
or
Psychiatric
harm must be caused