What Makes Ali So Guilty?

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“It has long been established that any touching of another person, however slight, may amount to battery. Everybody is protected not only against physical injury but against any form of physical molestation.”

In R v Thomas (1985), it was stated, obiter, that touching the bottom of a woman’s skirt was equivalent to touching the woman herself. A battery can be committed even where defendants thought their behavior was affectionate. In the light of above cases we could say Ali is liable for battery under s. 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.

To the third issue Ali’s defence There is no defense for Ahmed in the second issue. From the above statement we cannot find what the verbal words that make Ali so violent. Therefore it is not reasonable …show more content…

The main verses here are: unlawful, wound, and suffering. The word “inflict” does not oblige an assault, as established in Beasley (1981), MPC v Wilson (1984) and R v Ireland and Burstow(1997). A “wound” must break through all the layers of the skin but it does not include internal bleeding according to JCC v Eisenhower (1983). The phrase “grievous bodily harm” in the s.20 definition means really serious harm, but does not have to be life-threatening agreeing to DPP v Smith (1961). Ahmed’s act can simply be directed as to “serious harm” as decision was held in Saunders (1985). However, the courts held that age, health and other issues relating to the victim can be measured when defining whether the injuries are equal to grievous bodily harm. Therefore will be very likely to come to the conclusion that when Ahmed took a knife and stab in Ali’s stomach causing deep cut, he met the actus reus of malicious wounding. The act of stab can be defined as an infliction, and Ali’s wound broke through all the layers of his skin. The mens rea of malicious wounding is the word “maliciously”, which sorts in s.20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861). This word has since been clear as intentionally or recklessly by Cunningham (1957), and either one will suffice. The defendant must therefore intend or been reckless as to some physical harm, but he does not have to …show more content…

The High Court has confirmed that the defendant must be acting to prevent a crime. The defendants in DPP v Bayer (2003) had attached themselves to tractors to prevent the planting of genetically modified maize. They genuinely believed that the crops would damage neighboring property. In their defense they sought to rely on self-defense. This defense was rejected because they were not seeking to prevent the commission of a crime, as the crops were going to be planted legally. In R v Keane and McGrath (2010) the Court of Appeal stated that self-defense may arise in a case where the defendant started a fight, but only where the violence offered by the victim was so out of proportion to what the defendant did that, in effect, the roles were reversed. These defenses can usually only succeed if the defendant used reasonable force. What constitutes reasonable force balancing the amount of force used against the harm the accused required to prevent? If the force was unreasonable, often described as excessive, the defense is unavailable. In the case of R v Anthony Martin (2001) the defendant had been entitled to use force, but on the facts he had made a mistake about the amount of force he was entitled to use. The law imposes an objective test, so it does not matter if the defendant thought they were using a reasonable amount of force; what matters is whether objectively they

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