Assault

• Assault is contrary to S.39 Criminal Justice Act 1988 and means to intentionally or recklessly do an act which makes V apprehend immediate unlawful violence (Fagan).
• It must be a positive act, it cannot be an omission.
• Apprehend means an awareness of violence and, in Smith v Supt of Woking, a general awareness was enough.
• Logdon stated that even a joke makes V aware of violence, but Lamb said there is not awareness of violence when it is a joke that both D and V are in on.
• Immediate means the violence is not straight away, but within a reasonable amount of time.
• It is not immediate if D is far away or the violence is too far into the future.
• In Smith v Supt of Woking, it was sufficient the violence was at any time.
• Unlawful violence means there is no contact between D and V, it is words or gestures.
• In Ireland, it was silent phone calls and words and, in Constanza, it was threatening, abusive and insulting letters.
• The mens rea of assault is intention or subjective recklessness to do the AR (Savage).
• This means that D desire to make V aware of violence or is taking a risk that V will be aware of violence.