What is Battery?
Battery is intentionally causing harm to another person or offensively touching them without their consent or intentional involvement in the action. Where assault is more about an intention and how an action made a victim feel, battery is the actual physical act of harming someone.
In other words, when an accused came in physical contact with an intention to harm the other person, then the offence of battery will be committed.
In Leigh vs Gladstone, the court pointed out that the intention is the necessary element to prove the guilt to the accused. The force used by the accused to feed the hunger strike prisoner to save their life was a valid defence. Any injury caused during the course of action was unintentional and the injury is caused by accident, this accident will not constitute an offence of battery.
Difference between Assault and Battery
Assault and Battery are the two most common crimes that can be charged under Tort Law. Assault and Battery can be treated in both ways where a person can be charged in a civil lawsuit, i.e. demanding a form of compensation in the form of damages in monetary terms, or might be charged with a criminal offense if the accused is found guilty. Hence, understanding the difference between two crimes and their potential outcomes is of utmost importance.
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