About Eric Frank Expertise Ex police detective with 15 years recent experience in the criminal law. Can assist with questions as to how it affects victims and persons suspected of crime. Can also assist as to whether a criminal prosecution is the best or most effective method to pursue. Experienced in Criminal court procedure.
Please note: 99% of the questions I am asked result in the same answer: GET A LAWYER. Trust me on this, if I was in danger of losing my liberty, I would not be looking for advice on the internet, I would GET A LAWYER!
Question What happens if i caused grevious bodily harm out of self defence.
Answer Well, this is a tough question to answer without knowing all the facts, but I'll try.
Basically, it is a defence to say that you were in fear of assault, the assault was imminent, or taking place at the time you committed the GBH, and that you acted in self defence. HOWEVER, the defence is not absolute. The assault must be happening AT THAT TIME or be IMMEDIATELY imminent, and your actions must be REASONABLE.
This means a) You cannot bash someone up just because they say they are going to assault you, mere words are insufficient, they must be accompanied by some action b) you cannot commit GBH on someone who says they will assault you at some time in the future just as a pre emptive strike c) you cannot commit GBH on someone in self defence, if the threat was made by 3rd party, through the mail, or by phone, d) the assault threatened cannot be conditional ie. 'if you don't stop seeing my wife, I will break your legs', and e) most importantly, the self defence MUST be reasonable and there must be no alternative in the circumstances. This means you cannot shoot someone for slapping you, or run them down in a car for punching you, because your actions are unreasonable, and there are other things you could have done. For instance, you could have left and reported the assault.
To sustain a defence of self defence in a case of GBH, I would suggest you would have to prove that the assault(or threatened assault) was so severe (he/she had a knife, pool cue, broken bottle, firearm) that you had no reasonable alternative but to cause the injuries. In reality, you would have to be in fear for your life. This is why people who shoot burglars after being victimised several times end up in jail, their actions are not reasonable (in the eyes of the law), and there are alternative courses of action.
