Discuss the possible criminal liability of Adam for the injuries to Brandon and to Calvin. Discuss the possible criminal liability of Calvin arising out of his shouting at Adam.
(Source based)
Battery is a summary offence (no more than 6 months in prison). It is found when the defendant inflicts unlawful, personal violence upon the Victim, as found in the case of Cole v Turner.
Brandon is hurt from playing tennis with Adam. Does Adam have criminal liabilty? The violence need not be hostile. This is significant as Adam may not have hostility towards Brandon, he is playing a game of tennis with him. With this in mind, could Brandon consent to the risk of getting hurt by playing the sport? (R v Brown, consent to ABH in sport). I would argue there is a strong case that this is still unlawful. Brandon has consented to being hit by stray balls, a risk in most sports. However, in this case, Adam purposelly aims the tennis balls at Brandon.
In order to commit this crime, there must be the mens rea of intention or recklessness. Adam is clearly intent on hitting Brandon and so the mens rea for the crime is present. How much contact is needed for the offence of battery to be created? There is no minimum touch to constitute a battery: Collins v Wilcox. With this in mind, the pain that Brandon is feeling is more than enough to satisfy the actus reus element of the crime. Does it matter that Adam has not touched Brandon with his own body, but merely with a ball? The case of R v Roberts states that as long as the harm is a reasonably foreseeable consequence of D's actions, direct contact can be formed. In this case, hitting tennis balls directly at your opponent carries a foreseeable risk of hurting them, and thus there is unlawful personal violence.
Is this Actual Bodily Harm? Generally, the harm can only reach ABH if medical intervention is required. No medical intervention is required for Brandon. As a result, I would argue that Adam is liable for the summative offence of battery. It is worth mentioning that both boys are under 18 and as such are not adults. This carries little significance, since 13 is the minimum age of criminal responsibility.
