Crime CIX – s.47 of the Offences Against Person Act (1861) VI
While
the victim can be found guilty of causing or precipitating a psychiatric
illness under s47 of the Offences Against Person Act (1861) see R v Burstow (1997)
and R v Ireland (1998) he or she cannot be found guilty under s47 of the
Offences Against Person Act (1861) for causing nervous shock for example in
situations like that of Bourhill v Young (1943).
In
R v Chan Fook (1994) the defendant had accused the victim of stealing his
fiancé’s ring. The defendant after striking the victim several times,
locked him in a second-floor room. The victim fearing that the defendant might
return and hit him again, tried to escape through a window and as a result sustained
injury. The defendant was charged under s47 of the Offences Against Person Act
(1861) for causing him fear and panic. According to the direction given by the
trail judge (first instance) to the jury, ABH or actual bodily harm includes
inducing panic and hysteria. The defendant was convicted and appealed the
conviction.
On
appeal in was decided that panic and hysteria or inducing or, precipitating a
situation that sends the victim into panic and shock, for example where the
victim suffers from shock after witnessing a terrible accident, do not fall
under s47 of the Offences Against Person Act.
Psychiatric
illness is different from nervous shock in that the victim succumbs to a
psychiatric illness after being constantly and repeatedly harassed by the
defendant whereas with nervous shock there is no harassment involved and the
victim succumbs to nervous shock after witnessing what is often a
horrible and terrible accident, and it normally occurs on the spot or just
after the mishap see Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire (1992) and
White v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire (1998).
Copyright
© 2019 by Dyarne Ward
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