Assault Merely Harm (Section 20 OAPA)

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Assault occasioning grievous bodily harm which the Section 20 OAPA 1861. According to the legislation of UK government, it states, “Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously wound or inflict any grievous bodily harm upon any person, either with or without any weapon or instrument, shall be guilty of an offence or shall be liable… to imprisonment for not more than 5 years.“
In the definition, unlawful means that it offends the law or it is without consent or the defendant acted without lawful justification. According to the Lord Diplock in R v Mowatt, the word "maliciously" does import upon the part of the person who unlawfully inflicts the wound or other grievous bodily harm awareness that his act may have the consequence of causing some …show more content…

The defendant is charged with wounding or grievous bodily harm. If the wound has also inflicted grievous bodily harm, then the prosecution must choose from the two offences, depending on which reflects the true nature of the assault. (AQA A2 Law, 2013). Furthermore, the psychiatric harm can also counted as grievous bodily harm if it is sufficiently serious. The defendant foresaw that the victim might suffer some harm, it is not necessary to show that the defendant intended or foresaw that the victim would suffer form grievous bodily harm. There are some cases that we can refer …show more content…

The court held that defendant’s unlawful act was sufficiently foreseeable resulted and he finally convicted by Section 20 OPAP 1861.

In R v Bollom (2004), the defendant inflicted on his partner's 17-month-old daughter. The injuries consisted of various bruises and abrasions. He appealed against his conviction on the grounds that the judge should have directed the jury that in assessing whether the injuries were serious enough to amount to grievous bodily harm they should not take into account the age of the victim.

For the mens rea of Section 20 OAPA 1861, it refers to maliciously with intention or by subjective recklessness wound or inflict grievous bodily harm upon any other person.
The case that comes up is R v Mowatt (1976), the defendant was out in the early hours of the morning with another. The other snatched £5 from the complainant and ran off. The complainant chased the other and when he was unable to catch him he returned to the defendant demanding to know where his friend was. The defendant felt threatened and knocked the complainant to the floor. He was found sitting astride the complainant and punching him violently on the

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