Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 May 1909 — Definition of Assault In England. [ARTICLE]

Definition of Assault In England.

An assault may be committed without the exertion of any actual force, as a recent case before Justice Darling shows. A person may be guilty of the crime by simply frightening his victim. If any form of physical contact takes place the offense rises from an “assault” to a “battery.” “Assault and battery,” therefore, is not a mere reduplicated phrase. To constitute the minor crime some degree of alarm must be present in the mind of the party threatened, but that in itself (not very logically) is not enough. The person guilty of the menace must have the power of carrying out his implied threat, whether the victim knows it or not. Thus it has been held that while presenting a loaded pistol at a person is certainly an assault. To point an unloaded pistol is not.—Manchester Guardian.