Battery

• Battery - Criminal Justice Act 1988 s.39

  • Occurs when a person intentionally or recklessly applies unlawful force to another.
  • The physical extension to assault.
  • Includes violence and any unwanted touching.
• Collins v Wilcock


  The defendant was a police officer who took hold of a woman’s arm in order to prevent her walking away from him as he was questioning her about alleged prostitution. She succeeded in her case that the officer had committed battery, as he had gone beyond mere touching and had tried to restrain her, even though she was not being arrested.
• A battery may occur as part of a continuing act. - Fagan v Metropolitan Police Commisioner
• Fagan v Metropolitan Police Commisioner

  • The defendant parked his car on a police officer’s foot. It wasn’t until the defendant decided to leave the car there that the battery occurred. Until then, there was no unlawful force applied.
• Can argue that the touching of the hem of a skirt constitues a battery. - R v Thomas
• R v Thomas


  Where the judge decided that the touching of a person’s clothing amounted to the touching of the person themselves.
• Battery can also occur indirectly e.g. using traps - R. v Martin, Dpp v K
• R v Martin


  The defendant placed an iron bar across the doorway of a theatre and then turned the lights off, causing panic. This led to several people injuring themselves whilst trying to open the door.
• DPP v K


  A schoolboy hid acid in a hand-drier, intending to remove it later. In the meantime, another student used the hand-drier and was sprayed with the acid, causing injury.
• DPP v Santa-Bermudez

  • DPP v Santa-Bermudez, the defendant failed to tell a police officer, when asked, that there was a sharp needle in his pocket, before he was searched. The officer cut her finger on the needle and the defendant was found by the court to be liable for battery, due to the omission.