Trespass against the Person

Assault

¨        Intentionally and directly causing the victim to fear an imminent battery  - so based on impression that the C gets rather than what D will actually do ¨        Words traditionally insufficient without gestures Read v Coker ¨        Prevented battery can constitute assault Stephens v Myers ¨        Words can negate assault Tuberville v Savage ¨        And now are enough for assault in crime R v Ireland, R v Burstow ¨        Defences are consent, necessity, and self defence

Battery

¨        Intentional, direct, unlawful physical contact with the claimant’s body ¨        If contact is not intentional then negligence appropriate Letang v Cooper ¨        Requires direct contact but indirect has been accepted in the past Gibbons v Pepper, Nash v Sheen even where another party makes contact Scott v Shepherd ¨        There is some controversy over whether hostility is required – compare Wilson v Pringle and Collins v Wilcock ¨        Medical treatment without consent is battery Re F  and now  consent requires being fully informed Montgomery v Lanarkshire HA ¨        Defences include: Consent Simms v Leigh RFC - Necessity Leigh v Gladstone - Self defence Revil v Newbury (must be proportionate Lane v Holloway) - Inevitable accident Stanley v Powell - Lawful arrest

False Imprisonment

¨        Requires total bodily restraint Bird v Jones ¨        And no action possible if a means of escape exists Wright v Wilson ¨        Liability possible where claimant unaware of the restraint Meering v Graham White Aviation ¨        No liability only because claimant must pay to escape Robinson v Balmain Ferry ¨        Nor where employer has legitimate expectation that employee will complete shift Herd v Weardale Steel, Coal and Coke ¨        Defences include: consent, mistaken arrest, lawful arrest – and rules on arrest apply