BATTERY

Battery does not constitute a distinct criminal offence but is recognised as a form of assault, characterised by the physical application of unlawful force to another person.

Battery involves the actual, intentional, or reckless application of unlawful physical contact, whether violent, offensive, or otherwise non-consensual, upon another person. The physical element of this offence requires a voluntary act by the accused that results directly and immediately in such contact.

Battery is legally characterised as follows:

• It involves the direct and intentional or reckless application of non-consensual contact to another person (Fagan v Commissioner of Metropolitan Police).
• A battery may take the form of a continuous act, such that an initially unintentional act may become criminal where the accused subsequently maintains the physical contact with intent (Fagan v Commissioner of Metropolitan Police).
• The prosecution must establish that the victim did not consent to the contact. However, consent is not a defence where the conduct is intended to inflict serious harm for its own sake (R v Brown).

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Mark Racca

Principal Solicitor & Director
LLB, GradDipLegPrac, MPA

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