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Assault offences: common assault, ABH, GBH and wounding
Non-fatal assaults form a ladder: common assault and battery (summary only, maximum 6 months), assault occasioning actual bodily harm (s.47, maximum 5 years), unlawful wounding or inflicting GBH (s.20, maximum 5 years) and wounding or causing GBH with intent (s.18, maximum life).
The ladder
- Common assault and battery (Criminal Justice Act 1988 s.39). Assault is causing someone to apprehend immediate unlawful force; battery is applying unlawful force, however slight. Summary only, maximum 6 months. Against an emergency worker on duty it is triable either way, maximum 2 years (Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 s.1).
- Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) (Offences Against the Person Act 1861 s.47). An assault or battery causing harm that is more than transient or trifling, including a recognised psychiatric illness but not fear or panic alone (R v Chan-Fook [1994]). No foresight of harm is needed beyond the assault itself (R v Savage; DPP v Parmenter [1992]). Either way, maximum 5 years.
- Unlawful wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm (s.20). A wound is a break in the whole skin, inner and outer (JJC v Eisenhower (1983)). GBH means really serious harm. The defendant must have foreseen some harm, though not serious harm (R v Mowatt [1968]). Either way, maximum 5 years.
- Wounding or causing GBH with intent (s.18). As above, but with intent to cause GBH or to resist or prevent lawful arrest. Indictable only, maximum life.
Related offences
- Strangulation or suffocation (Serious Crime Act 2015 s.75A) is a separate either-way offence, maximum 5 years; no injury is needed.
- Racially or religiously aggravated common assault carries up to 2 years; aggravated ABH, s.20 or strangulation up to 7 years (Crime and Disorder Act 1998 s.29).
- A new offence of assaulting a retail worker (Crime and Policing Act 2026 s.45) was not yet in force at the time of writing.
Charging and time limits
Under the CPS Charging Standard, grazes or minor bruising usually indicate common assault; stitches, broken bones or teeth, or loss of consciousness usually indicate ABH. A weapon or vulnerable victim may justify a higher charge. Intent under s.18 is usually inferred from any weapon, the number and force of blows and anything said. A common assault prosecution must normally start within 6 months; in domestic abuse cases, within 6 months of the complainant's formal statement and 2 years of the incident (Criminal Justice Act 1988 s.39A).
Defences and practice
Self-defence is the commonest defence (see Self-defence and reasonable force). Consent is a defence to common assault but generally not to ABH or worse, save recognised exceptions such as properly conducted sport (R v Brown [1994]), and never to serious harm for sexual gratification (Domestic Abuse Act 2021 s.71). Medical evidence, CCTV and 999 calls are often central.
Authorities: Criminal Justice Act 1988 ss.39, 39A; Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 s.127; Offences Against the Person Act 1861 ss.18, 20, 47; Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 s.1; Serious Crime Act 2015 s.75A; Crime and Disorder Act 1998 s.29; Domestic Abuse Act 2021 s.71; Crime and Policing Act 2026 s.45 (not yet in force); R v Chan-Fook [1994] 1 WLR 689; R v Savage, DPP v Parmenter [1992] 1 AC 699; JJC (a minor) v Eisenhower [1983] 3 All ER 230; R v Mowatt [1968] 1 QB 421; R v Brown [1994] 1 AC 212; CPS legal guidance, Offences against the Person, incorporating the Charging Standard