The defendant had pretended to be medically qualified in order to obtain the opportunity to examine women’s breasts. He appealed against his conviction for indecent assault, saying that the complainants had consented to the examinations.
Held: Where consent was given only because the victim was misled into believing that the defendant was a medical practitioner, the consent which had been was as to the nature of the act, but not as to its quality. The fraud vitiated the consent. Consent did not exist because the act consented to was not that done. The consent was to examination for medical purposes by a practitioner. That act was of a different nature. The defendant had argued that an ‘undoubted consent’ could only be negatived if the victim had been deceived or mistaken about the nature and quality of the act, and that consent was not negatived ‘merely because the victim would not have agreed to the act if he or she had known all the facts’. That argument failed. The court observed: ‘there was no true consent’.
Rose LJ VP, Kennedy, Hallett JJ
Times 26-May-2000, Gazette 31-May-2000, [2000] 2 CAR 328, [2000] EWCA Crim 90, [2000] 2 Cr App Rep 328, [2000] Crim LR 686, [2000] Lloyds Rep Med 404, [2000] All ER (D) 649
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Considered – Regina v Clarence CCCR 20-Nov-1888
The defendant knew that he had gonorrhea. He had intercourse with his wife, and infected her. She would not have consented had she known. He appealed his convictions for assault and causing grievous bodily harm.
Held: ‘The question in this . .
Cited – Regina v Linekar CACD 21-Oct-1994
L appealed against his conviction for rape. His victim was a woman working as a prostitute. He said that he had simply made off afterwards without payment. He was convicted on the basis that he had procured the act by a false pretence by him that he . .
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Dica CACD 5-May-2004
Reckless HIV transmission – Grievous Bodily Harm
The defendant appealed against his conviction for inflicting grievous bodily harm. He had HIV/Aids, and was found to have transmitted the disease by intercourse when the victims were not informed of his condition. It was not suggested that any rape . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime, Health Professions
Leading Case
Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.85580
