The court considered the application of the section on alternative verdicts available to juries on a trial for attempted murder. The allegations in a charge under section 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 or under section 9(1)(b) of the Theft Act 1968 impliedly included allegations of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and accordingly, on a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm contrary to section 20 of the 1861 Act or on a charge of burglary contrary to section 9(1)(b) of the 1968 Act, it was open to the jury to return a verdict of not guilty as charged, but guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm contrary to section 47 of the 1861 Act, notwithstanding the absence of an assault: ‘there can be an infliction of grievous bodily harm contrary to s.20 without an assault being committed’. The House also set out the essential elements of the crime of conspiracy.
Lord Roskill observed: ‘In the present case, the issue to my mind is not whether the allegations in the section 20 charge, expressly or impliedly, amount to an allegation of a section 47 charge, for plainly they do not. The issue is whether they ‘either expressly or impliedly’ include such an allegation. The answer to that question is what is expressly or impliedly included in a charge of inflicting bodily harm.’
Lord Roskill
[1984] AC 242, [1983] 3 WLR 686, [1983] 3 All ER 448
Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 5(1) 5(2), Criminal Law Act 1967 6(3), Theft Act 1968 9(1)(b), Offences Against the Persons Act 1861 20 47
England and Wales
Cited by:
Followed – Regina v Savage; Director of Public Prosecutions v Parmenter HL 7-Nov-1991
The first defendant had been convicted of wounding. She had intended to throw beer over her victim, but her glass slipped from her hand, and cut the victim. The second defendant threw his three year old child in the air and caught him, not realising . .
Cited – Regina v Morrison CACD 20-May-2003
The defendant appealed a conviction for attempting to cause grievous bodily harm. He had faced trial on a charge of attempted murder, and the judge had left open to the jury the alternative of the offence for which he had been convicted.
Held: . .
Cited – Regina v Graham, Kansal, etc CACD 25-Oct-1996
The court discussed when it was appropriate for the Court of Appeal to substitute other lesser convictions, after the main conviction had been declared unsafe.
Held: After studying the authorities at length, the court felt that the various . .
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 . .
Cited – Regina v Dawson, Dawson CACD 14-Jul-1997
The defendants were convicted of a mortgage fraud. They appealed saying they had not been dishonest. They had signed forms, but they then had been completed by others, and that it had been those further replies which were dishonest. The original . .
Cited – Regina v Lahaye CACD 12-Oct-2005
The defendant had faced only an indictment alleging a malcious wounding charge under s18. The judge had left to the jury the alternative of a conviction for the lesser s20 offence.
Held: The lesser charge should normally be included on the . .
Cited – White v Regina CACD 15-Apr-2014
The defendant sought an extension of time for leave to appeal against his conviction for fraud. After his conviction there had been academic debate as to its basis, and the present application was not opposed. He had originally been charged under . .
Cited – Haystead v Director of Public Prosecutions QBD 2-Jun-2000
The defendant had hit a mother in the face as she held the child. The force was sufficient to cause her to drop the child causing injury to the child. He appealed against a conviction for beating the child.
Held: The appeal failed. A battery . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 15 October 2021; Ref: scu.182275
