Collins v Wilcock[1] 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
CourtHigh Court of Justice
Decided16 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 fromMarylebone Magistrates' Court
Court membership
Judges sittingGoff LJ and Mann J

Collins v Wilcock is a leading case.[2] 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.[3] "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.[4]

References

edit
  • Dorothy J Wilson, "Divisional Court" (1984) 48 The Journal of Criminal Law 321
  • (1984) 148 The Justice of the Peace Reports 692
  • "Notes of Cases" (1984) 148 The Justice of the Peace 621 (29 September 1984)
  • (1984) 79 The Criminal Appeal Reports 229
  • "Crime" (1984) 128 The Solicitors Journal 660 (28 September 1984)
  • (1984) 81 LS Gaz 2140
  • "Queen's Bench Division" (1985) 104 Law Notes 10 (No 1, January 1985)
  • [1984] The Criminal Law Review 481
  • "Soliciting", The Police Journal, vols 58 and 59, pp 71 and 72
  • "Collins v Wilcock" in "Monthly Updater" in "Law and Practice" (1984) Legal Action [1]
  • Harvey and Marston. "Collins v Wilcock". Cases and Commentary on Tort. Sixth Edition. Oxford University Press. 2009. Pages 350 to 353. See further pages 354 to 356, 358 and 360.
  • Dias (ed). Clerk and Lindsell on Torts. Sixteenth Edition. Sweet & Maxwell. 1989. Paragraphs 17-01, 17-04, 17-05, 22-119 and 27-113.
  • Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice. 1999 Edition. Paragraphs 19-171, 19-175 and 19-271.
  1. ^ [1984] 1 WLR 1172; [1984] 3 All ER 374.
  2. ^ Walker v Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis [2015] 1 WLR 312; [2014] EWCA Civ 897 at para 17. Bailey, Harris and Ormerod. Civil Liberties: Cases and Materials. 5th Ed. Butterworths. 2001. p 164. Weaver. Readings in Criminal Law. 5th Ed. Anderson Publishing Company. 1998. p 406. The Law Commission, Legislating the Criminal Code: Offences against the Person and General Principles, Law Com 122, 1992, para 9.17.
  3. ^ "2.2.3 Collins v. Wilcock [1984] 1 WLR 1172 (QB) | Tort Law: Cases and Commentaries | CanLII". CanLII. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  4. ^ [1984] 3 All ER 374 et seq