R
V.
BROWN

(1993) JELR 80180 (HL)

House of Lords · 11 Mar 1993 · United Kingdom
·

Other Citations

[1994] 1 AC 212, [1993] 2 All ER 75, [1994] AC 212, [1993] UKHL 19, [1993] 2 WLR 556

CORAM

Lord Templeman, Lord Jauncey, Lord Lowry, Lord Mustill, Lord Slynn

Core Terms ^Beta

appellants

actual bodily harm

public interest

offences

bodily harm

er rep

assaults

consent of the person

consent of the victim

grievous bodily harm

serious bodily harm

court of appeal

stephen j

charge of assault

common assault

person act

swift j

unlawful act

cave j

judgment of the court of appeal

lord coleridge cj

present case

trial judge

act of gross indecency

bodily injury

common law

considerable force

lack of consent

such hurt

true view

bare fists lord lane cj

corruption of others

criminal code

criminal justice act

definition of assault

foreseeable incident of a lawful activity

freedoms of others

general principles

j j c

judgment of the court of criminal appeal

lord templeman

mr kershen qc

passage stephen j

private beat

purposes of sexual gratification

read judgment

self-defence

such fights

unlawful personal violence

LORD TEMPLEMAN(reading the read judgment)

My Lords, the appellants were convicted of assaults occasioning actual bodily harm contrary to s 47 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861. Three of the appellants were also convicted of wounding contrary to s 20 of the 1861 Act. The incidents which led to each conviction occurred in the course of consensual sado-masochistic homosexual encounters. The Court of Appeal upheld the convictions and certified the following point of law of general public importance:

'Where A wounds or assaults B occasioning him actual bodily harm in the course of a sadomasochistic encounter, does the prosecution have to prove lack of consent on the part of B before they can establish A's guilt under section 20 and section 47 of the 1861, Offences Against the Person Act?'

The definition of assault set forth in the 14th Report of the Criminal Law Revision Committee on Offences against the Person (Cmnd 7844 (1980)) para 158 and adopted by the Law Commission in their C…

R V. BROWN

R
V.
BROWN