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Assault, where rooted on English law, is an attempted battery or the act of intentionally placing a person in apprehension of a harmful or offensive contact with their person. Elsewhere it is often similarly worded as the threat of violence to a person while aggravated assault is the threat with the clear and present ability and willingness to ...
Battery is a criminal offense that involves the use of physical force against another person without their consent. [12] [13] [14] It is a type of assault and is considered a serious crime.
Assault and battery is the combination of two violent crimes: assault (harm or the threat of harm) and battery (physical violence). This legal distinction exists only in jurisdictions that distinguish assault as threatened violence rather than actual violence.
Battery is aggravated when using a weapon or dangerous object, when it results in disfigurement or serious physical injury. Assault and battery are classified as aggravated when directed towards a person with special status such as a law enforcement officer or elderly person. Assault becomes aggravated given the intention to murder or rape.
And it is then possible to consider degrees and aggravations, and distinguish between intentional actions (e.g., assault) and criminal negligence (e.g., criminal endangerment). Offences against the person are usually taken to comprise: Fatal offences Murder; Manslaughter; Non-fatal non-sexual offences Assault, or common assault; Battery, or ...
Intent is defined in English law by the ruling in R v Mohan [1976] QB 1 as "the decision to bring about a prohibited consequence" (malum prohibitum). [1] [2] [3] A range of words represents shades of intent in criminal laws around the world. The mental element, or mens rea, of murder, for example, was historically called malice aforethought.
As distinguished from battery, assault does not need to involve the 'unwanted physical contact; but is the anticipation of such contact'. [4] It only needs intent to make or threaten contact and the resulting apprehension. [5] At one point, the common law understanding of assault required more than words alone, it also required an overt act.
There also exist alternative forms of aggravated assault in English law, for example: assault or battery with intent to resist arrest (as above, the arrest must be lawful); and assault on, resistance to, and obstruction of constables. [55] Under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, it is also possible to commit a racially aggravated assault. This ...