Mysterious Leg Injury

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The Defendant inflicted a serious leg injury upon the victim whilst attempting to make a sliding tackle during an amateur football match. The tackle which caused the injury was crushing, late, unnecessary, reckless and high. The referee sent off Barnes and also gave evidence saying that it was not a sliding tackle and that it was two footed. He was convicted on one count of unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm, contrary to section 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861. He appealed against the conviction. The judge directed the jury that the defendant could only be convicted if the prosecution had proved that what he had done had not been done by way of ‘legitimate sport’.

Legal Issue/ Question

When is it appropriate …show more content…

The Defence’s case is that it was “a sliding tackle, that sliding tackles are legitimate, that injuries do get caused even in football and that this particular sliding tackle was not reckless. The defendant argued that it was no more and no less indeed than a normal everyday tackle done in every game, sometimes in a game over a dozen or more times. It was not disputed that the victim’s injury was the result of the tackle ad that the injury to his right leg amounted to grievous bodily …show more content…

In deciding whether conduct is criminal, it must be taken into account that in highly competitive sports, conduct outside the rules of the game can be expected in the heat of the moment but it may not reach the threshold level required for it to be criminal. He stated that the following should be considered by the jury: the level of the game, the nature of the act, the degree of force used, the extent of the risk of injury and the state of mind of the defendant. “The type of the sport, the level at which it is played, the nature of the act, the degree of force used, the extent of the risk of injury, the state of mind of the defendant are all likely to be relevant in determining whether the defendant's actions go beyond the threshold.” The House of Lords considered the law in R v Brown . Brown dealt with a very different factual context, namely sado-masochistic activities between consenting adults. However, their Lordships made it clear that the rule and the exceptions to the rule that a person cannot consent to his being caused actual harm, are based on public policy. Another interesting case illustrating this public policy approach was in R v Dica where women who knew of a HIV positive mans condition consented to sexual intercourse. There would be a defence to a charge under section 20. In the case of R v Cey , Gerwing JA made it clear that even in ice hockey: “some forms of bodily contact carry with them such

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