Collins v Wilcock
1984 court case in UK / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Collins v Wilcock[1] is an appellate case decided in 1984 by a divisional court of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of England and Wales. It is concerned with trespass to the person focusing on battery.
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Collins v Wilcock | |
---|---|
Court | High Court of Justice |
Decided | 16 April 1984 |
Citation(s) | [1984] 1 WLR 1172; [1984] 3 All ER 374; (1984) 148 JP 692; (1984) 79 Cr App R 229; (1984) 128 Sol Jo 660; (1984) 81 LS Gaz 2140; [1984] Crim LR 481 |
Case history | |
Appealed from | Marylebone Magistrates' Court |
Court membership | |
Judges sitting | Goff LJ and Mann J |
Collins v Wilcock is a leading case.[2] Expanding on Lord John Holt's definition of intent in Cole v Turner, Lord Robert Goff's ruling in Collins v Wilcock narrowed the law.[3] "An assault is committed when a person intentionally or recklessly harms someone indirectly. A battery is committed when a person intentionally and recklessly harms someone directly." But it also says this: "An offence of Common Assault is committed when a person either assaults another person or commits a battery." It notes that the only distinction between common assault and causing actual bodily harm (under section 47 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861) is the degree of injury.[4]