Collins v Wilcock
| Collins v Wilcock | |
|---|---|
| Court | High Court of Justice |
| Decided | 16 April 1984 |
| Citation | [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 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.
Collins v Wilcock is a leading case. 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. "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.