The Five Levels of Assault and Battery Offences
Criminal law recognises five distinct levels of assault and battery charges, each with increasing severity and different legal requirements. Starting with basic common law assault, where someone intentionally or recklessly causes another person to fear immediate unlawful force, we move through to the most serious GBH charges under section 18.
Battery takes things a step further - it's the actual infliction of unlawful force rather than just the fear of it. The key difference is that assault is about making someone think they're about to be hit, whilst battery is actually hitting them.
ABH (Actual Bodily Harm) under section 47 covers any hurt or injury that interferes with the victim's health or comfort, provided it's not completely trivial. Think bruises, minor cuts, or psychological harm that affects daily life.
The two GBH (Grievous Bodily Harm) charges deal with serious injuries. Section 20 covers maliciously wounding or inflicting GBH, whilst section 18 requires proof of intent to cause serious harm. A wound means breaking both outer layers of skin, whilst GBH simply means "serious harm."
Key Point: Each offence builds on the previous one - you need to establish assault or battery before proving the higher charges, and causation must be proven using the "but for" test and significant contribution principle.
