{"id":5925,"date":"2018-03-07T09:26:55","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T09:26:55","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2019-06-14T15:46:23","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T15:46:23","slug":"consent-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/cases\/consent-cases.php","title":{"rendered":"Consent Cases – Bodily Harm – ABH"},"content":{"rendered":"

CASES ON CONSENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

CONSENT TO ACTUAL BODILY HARM<\/b><\/p>\n

R v Wilson (1996)<\/a> Times Law Report March 5 1996<\/b><\/p>\n

The defendant had been charged with assault occasioning a.b.h. contrary to<\/p>\n

s47 of the O.A.P.A. 1861. The activity involved the defendant burning his<\/p>\n

initials onto his wife’s buttocks with a hot knife because she had wanted his<\/p>\n

name on her body. The Court of Appeal held that consensual activity between<\/p>\n

husband and wife in the privacy of the matrimonial home was not a proper matter<\/p>\n

for criminal investigation or criminal prosecution. The court believed that the<\/p>\n

defendant had been engaged in an activity which in principle was no more<\/p>\n

dangerous than professional tattooing. Thus, the court was of the opinion that<\/p>\n

it was not in the public interest that his activities should amount to criminal<\/p>\n

behaviour.<\/p>\n

CONSENT TO RISK OF UNINTENTIONAL A.B.H.<\/b><\/p>\n

R v Billinghurst [1978] Crim LR 553.<\/b><\/p>\n

During a rugby match and in an off-the-ball incident B punched an opposing<\/p>\n

player, in the face fracturing the jaw. B was charged with inflicting grievous<\/p>\n

bodily harm contrary to s20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. The<\/p>\n

only issue in the case was consent. Evidence was given by the victim that on<\/p>\n

previous occasions he had been punched and had himself punched opponents on the<\/p>\n

rugby field, and by a defence witness, a former International rugby player, that<\/p>\n

in the modern game of rugby punching is the rule rather than the exception.<\/p>\n

It was argued by the defence that in the modern game of rugby players<\/p>\n

consented to the risk of some injury and that the prosecution would have to<\/p>\n

prove that the blow struck by B was one which was outside the normal expectation<\/p>\n

of a player so that he could not be said to have consented to it by<\/p>\n

participating in the game. The prosecution argued that public policy imposes<\/p>\n

limits on violence to which a rugby player can consent and that whereas he is<\/p>\n

deemed to consent to vigorous and even over-vigorous physical contact on the<\/p>\n

ball, he is not deemed to consent to any deliberate physical contact off the<\/p>\n

ball.<\/p>\n

The judge directed the jury that rugby was a game of physical contact<\/p>\n

necessarily involving the use of force and that players are deemed to consent to<\/p>\n

force “of a kind which could reasonably be expected to happen during a<\/p>\n

game.” He went on to direct them that a rugby player has no unlimited<\/p>\n

licence to use force and that “there must obviously be cases which cross<\/p>\n

the line of that to which a player is deemed to consent.” A distinction<\/p>\n

which the jury might regard as decisive was that between force used in the<\/p>\n

course of play and force used outside the course of play. The judge told the<\/p>\n

jury that by their verdict they could set a standard for the future. The jury,<\/p>\n

by a majority verdict of 11 to 1, convicted B.<\/p>\n

R v Jones (Terence) (1986) 83 Cr App R 375.<\/b><\/p>\n

The defendants were convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm on two<\/p>\n

schoolboys, who had been tossed high in the air and then allowed to fall to the<\/p>\n

ground by the defendants. The defendants’ evidence was that they regarded this<\/p>\n

activity as a joke. There was some evidence showing that the victims, likewise,<\/p>\n

so regarded this. The judge declined to direct the jury that if they thought<\/p>\n

that the defendants had only been indulging in rough and undisciplined play, not<\/p>\n

intending to cause harm, and genuinely believing that the victims consented,<\/p>\n

they should acquit. On appeal, their appeals were allowed on the basis that<\/p>\n

consent to rough and undisciplined horseplay is a defence; and, even if there is<\/p>\n

no consent, genuine belief, whether reasonably held or not, that it was present,<\/p>\n

would be a defence.<\/p>\n

R v Aitken and Others [1992] 1 WLR 1066.<\/b><\/p>\n

The three defendants and a man named Gibson were all RAF officers attending a<\/p>\n

party to celebrate the completion of their formal flying training. During the<\/p>\n

course of the evening the defendants had, in jest, tried to ignite the fire<\/p>\n

resistant suits of two fellow officers. When G indicated that he was leaving the<\/p>\n

party to go to bed, the defendants manhandled him and set fire to his fire<\/p>\n

resistant suit. Despite the rapid efforts of the defendants to douse the flames,<\/p>\n

G suffered serious burns. Although it was accepted that the defendants had not<\/p>\n

intended to cause injury to G, the defendants were court martialled, and<\/p>\n

convicted of inflicting GBH contrary to s20 of the Offences Against the Person<\/p>\n

Act 1861.<\/p>\n

An appeal against conviction was allowed. The Courts-Martial Court of Appeal<\/p>\n

held that the judge advocate should have directed the court to consider whether<\/p>\n

G gave his consent as a willing participant to the activities in question, or<\/p>\n

whether the appellants may have believed this, whether reasonably or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cases on Consent. R v Wilson (1996) Times Law Report March 5 1996. The defendant had been charged with assault occasioning a.b.h. contrary to s47 of the O.A.P.A. 1861…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85],"class_list":["post-5925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cases","tag-uk-law"],"yoast_head":"\nConsent Cases - Bodily Harm - ABH | LawTeacher.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cases on Consent. R v Wilson (1996) Times Law Report March 5 1996. The defendant had been charged with assault occasioning a.b.h. contrary to s47 of the O.A.P.A. 1861...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/cases\/consent-cases.php\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Consent Cases - Bodily Harm - ABH\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cases on Consent. R v Wilson (1996) Times Law Report March 5 1996. The defendant had been charged with assault occasioning a.b.h. contrary to s47 of the O.A.P.A. 1861...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/cases\/consent-cases.php\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LawTeacher.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LawTeacherNet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LawTeacherNet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LT-large-logo.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"LawTeacher\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LawTeacherNet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LawTeacherNet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"LawTeacher\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"ScholarlyArticle\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"LawTeacher\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#\/schema\/person\/b99962c073c877c4ab8ee3d2486cd56e\"},\"headline\":\"Consent Cases – Bodily Harm – ABH\",\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php\"},\"wordCount\":812,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"UK Law\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Case Summaries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php\",\"name\":\"Consent Cases - Bodily Harm - ABH | LawTeacher.net\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Cases on Consent. R v Wilson (1996) Times Law Report March 5 1996. The defendant had been charged with assault occasioning a.b.h. contrary to s47 of the O.A.P.A. 1861...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Consent Cases – Bodily Harm – ABH\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/\",\"name\":\"Law Teacher\",\"description\":\"The Law Essay Professionals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"LawTeacher.net\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Law Teacher\",\"alternateName\":\"LawTeacher.net\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LT-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LT-logo.jpg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Law Teacher\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LawTeacherNet\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/LawTeacherNet\",\"https:\/\/api.whatsapp.com\/send\/?phone=447723491966&text&type=phone_number&app_absent=0\"],\"description\":\"Law Teacher provides academic writing services for law students throughout the world.\",\"email\":\"contact@lawteacher.net\",\"telephone\":\"+44 115 966 7966\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"51\",\"maxValue\":\"200\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#\/schema\/person\/b99962c073c877c4ab8ee3d2486cd56e\",\"name\":\"LawTeacher\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4fdfab0a9ef25209f111018ecc8a983e19e57c5066a9277217a119582ccbeed3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4fdfab0a9ef25209f111018ecc8a983e19e57c5066a9277217a119582ccbeed3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"LawTeacher\"},\"description\":\"LawTeacher.net is the UK's leading provider of academic legal support, offering both writing services and an extensive collection of law study resources for students in the UK and overseas. Founded in 2003 by Grey's Inn graduate Barclay Littlewood, the Company was built on a commitment to excellence, with unique guarantees and a high standard of service from day one. The team includes over 500 UK legally qualified writing experts, with many practising solicitors and barristers, and several former lecturers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LawTeacherNet\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/LawTeacherNet\",\"https:\/\/gravatar.com\/lawteacherprofile\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"Contract Law\",\"Criminal Law\",\"Constitutional and Administrative Law\",\"EU Law\",\"Tort Law\",\"Property Law\",\"Equity and Trusts\",\"Jurisprudence\",\"Company Law\",\"Commercial Law\",\"Family Law\",\"Human Rights Law\",\"Employment Law\",\"Evidence\",\"Public International Law\",\"Legal Research and Methods\",\"Dispute Resolution\",\"Business Law and Practice\",\"Civil Litigation\",\"Criminal Litigation\",\"Professional Conduct\",\"Taxation\",\"Wills and Administration of Estates\",\"Solicitors\u2019 Accounts\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/author\/lawteacher\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Consent Cases - Bodily Harm - ABH | LawTeacher.net","description":"Cases on Consent. R v Wilson (1996) Times Law Report March 5 1996. The defendant had been charged with assault occasioning a.b.h. contrary to s47 of the O.A.P.A. 1861...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/cases\/consent-cases.php","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Consent Cases - Bodily Harm - ABH","og_description":"Cases on Consent. R v Wilson (1996) Times Law Report March 5 1996. The defendant had been charged with assault occasioning a.b.h. contrary to s47 of the O.A.P.A. 1861...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/cases\/consent-cases.php","og_site_name":"LawTeacher.net","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LawTeacherNet\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LawTeacherNet","article_published_time":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LT-large-logo.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"LawTeacher","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@LawTeacherNet","twitter_site":"@LawTeacherNet","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"LawTeacher","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"ScholarlyArticle","@id":"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php"},"author":{"name":"LawTeacher","@id":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#\/schema\/person\/b99962c073c877c4ab8ee3d2486cd56e"},"headline":"Consent Cases – Bodily Harm – ABH","datePublished":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php"},"wordCount":812,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#organization"},"keywords":["UK Law"],"articleSection":["Case Summaries"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php","url":"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php","name":"Consent Cases - Bodily Harm - ABH | LawTeacher.net","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00","description":"Cases on Consent. R v Wilson (1996) Times Law Report March 5 1996. The defendant had been charged with assault occasioning a.b.h. contrary to s47 of the O.A.P.A. 1861...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/64.226.118.242:8001\/cases\/consent-cases.php#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Consent Cases – Bodily Harm – ABH"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/","name":"Law Teacher","description":"The Law Essay Professionals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#organization"},"alternateName":"LawTeacher.net","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#organization","name":"Law Teacher","alternateName":"LawTeacher.net","url":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LT-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/LT-logo.jpg","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"Law Teacher"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LawTeacherNet\/","https:\/\/x.com\/LawTeacherNet","https:\/\/api.whatsapp.com\/send\/?phone=447723491966&text&type=phone_number&app_absent=0"],"description":"Law Teacher provides academic writing services for law students throughout the world.","email":"contact@lawteacher.net","telephone":"+44 115 966 7966","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"51","maxValue":"200"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#\/schema\/person\/b99962c073c877c4ab8ee3d2486cd56e","name":"LawTeacher","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/wp.lawteacher.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4fdfab0a9ef25209f111018ecc8a983e19e57c5066a9277217a119582ccbeed3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4fdfab0a9ef25209f111018ecc8a983e19e57c5066a9277217a119582ccbeed3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"LawTeacher"},"description":"LawTeacher.net is the UK's leading provider of academic legal support, offering both writing services and an extensive collection of law study resources for students in the UK and overseas. Founded in 2003 by Grey's Inn graduate Barclay Littlewood, the Company was built on a commitment to excellence, with unique guarantees and a high standard of service from day one. The team includes over 500 UK legally qualified writing experts, with many practising solicitors and barristers, and several former lecturers.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LawTeacherNet","https:\/\/x.com\/LawTeacherNet","https:\/\/gravatar.com\/lawteacherprofile"],"knowsAbout":["Contract Law","Criminal Law","Constitutional and Administrative Law","EU Law","Tort Law","Property Law","Equity and Trusts","Jurisprudence","Company Law","Commercial Law","Family Law","Human Rights Law","Employment Law","Evidence","Public International Law","Legal Research and Methods","Dispute Resolution","Business Law and Practice","Civil Litigation","Criminal Litigation","Professional Conduct","Taxation","Wills and Administration of Estates","Solicitors\u2019 Accounts"],"url":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/author\/lawteacher"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5925\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}