Offences against Persons: Offences endangering Life or Health

CONTENT

1      Introduction

2. Objectives
3. Main Content

Definition

Actus intended to cause harm Wounding act

Grievous Harm

4. Conclusion
5. Summary

6      Tutor-Marked Assignment

7. References

Introduction

Offences endangering life and health are offence against persons. They include:

• Disabling in order to commit a felony or misdemeanour
• Stupefying in order to commit a felony or misdemeanour
• Actus intended to cause grievous harm or prevent cause
• Grievous harm

o  Attempts to injure by explosive substance and maliciously administering poison with intent to harm.

• Wounding and similar actus
• Failure to supply nurseries
• Endangering life or health of apprentices or security
• Abandoning or exposing child
• Reckless and negligence Acts

The list is not exhaustive of these offences. Grievous and wounding and similar acts are common and require more discussion. Others are of low reportability and need be mentioned in outline.

Objectives

When you have studied this unit, you should be able to:

2. articulate a number of acts or omissions likely to endanger life or health more particularly those relating to : infants or words.
3. Describe the ambit of Grievous harm
4. Discriminate the   grievous   harm   for   homicide   and   for   non- homicide
5. distinguish Wounding from Grievous harm
6. Identify the category of Reckless and Negligent Acts or omissions

Main Content

This unit may be described as ‘catch all’ as it tends to cover miscellaneous offences against the persons which have not been covered in the earlier units. As it is possible to cover all offences against persons. We shall concentrate on the personal offences that are common or atrocious which have not already been learned.

Definition

Let us learn the definition of words that are frequently used in the unit.

Grievous Bodily Harm:

• Literal meaning:

-        Ordinary and material meaning of really serious bodily harm.

Statutory Definitions

• Any harm which amounts to a main or dangerous harm
• Any harm which seriously or permanently injures health or which is likely so to injure health, or which extends to permanent disfigurement or to any permanent or serious injury to any external or internal organ , number of sense harm
• Any bodily hurt, disease, or disorder whether permanent or temporary.
• Wound:

Any incision or puncture which divides or pierces any exterior membrane of the body, and any membrane is exterior, for the purpose of this definition, which can be touched without dividing or piercing any other membrane

• Acts intended to cause grievous harm or prevent arrest (Criminal Code section 332)

Any person, who, with intent to maim, disfigure or disable, any person or to do some grievous harm to any person, or to resist or prevent the lawful arrest or detention of any person:-

1. unlawfully wounds or does any grievous harm to any person by any means
2. unlawfully attempts in any manner to strike any person with any kind of projective or with a spear, sword, knife, or other dangerous or offensive
3. unlawfully causes any explosive substance to explode or
4. sends or delivers any explosive substance or other dangerous or noxious thing to any person , or
5. cause any such substance or thin to be taken or received by any person ; or
6. put any corrosive fluid or any destructive or explosive substance in any place, or
7. unlawfully casts or throws any such fluids or substance at or upon any person, or otherwise apply any such fluid or substance to the person   of   any   person   is   guilty   of   felony   and   is   liable   for imprisonment for life.

• Wounding and similar Acts (Criminal Code Section 338) Any person who:

(i)	unlawfully wounds another or
(ii)	unlawfully, and with     intent to injure or	annoy any person,

causes any poison or other noxious thing to be administered to or taken by, any person; is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.

 Note the absence of “intent to…..” in sub-section (1) and its presence in sub-section (2) above. 

Wound

Includes punctured wounds, lacerated wounds, contused wounds, and gun shot wounds.

To constitute a wound, the continuity of the skin must be broken ie the outer covering of the body – the whole skin, not just mere cuticle or  upper skin.

A decision of the internal skin eg within the cheek or lip has been held sufficient to constitute a wound.

The instrument by which the skin is broken is not relevant . It may be from a kick, a hammer thrown at a person or from any means whatever provided the wound is given by the act of the accused person.

Types of wounding.

There are two types of wounding as you would have observed from the statutory definition above.

1. Unlawful wounding:

Wounding is unlawful unless executable of justifiable. A malicious kind.

The accused need not nurse any spite or ill-feeling against the victim

2. Felonies wounding. This is wounding with intent to murder, or to maim, disable or cause grievous bodily harm

The accused have been acclimated by spite or ill-feeling against the victim.

The motive may be:

5. To cause grievous bodily harm
6. To resist or prevent the careful apprehension or detcliner of any person.

To maim is to injure a person in any manner which hinders him less capable of fighting.

To disable is to cause a permanent injury.

To consitilnt a grievous bodily harm, the injury need not be permanent or dangerous

provided it is such as to interfere seriously with health or comfort.

On a charge of unlawful wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm, it must be proved that when the accused did the act which caused the injury

• he was acting consciously
• he knew what he was doing
• he had no belief that he had any law justification for the act
• Grievous Harm (Criminal Code section 335)

Any person who unlawfully does grievous harm to another is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for 7 years.

Grievous bodily harm requires:

• Some awareness that the act may have the consequences of causing some physical harm (albeit of a minor character) to some other person
• Example is where by direct act, the accused causes some physical harm to the victim where ordinary person would be bound to realize it wound casue such physical harm.
• Ezechi fires a shot in the direction of Osua with the intention of frightening him from coming to Esther, but not with the intention of doing him bodily harm. Osua heard a gun shot and found himself shot and seriously wounded 332(b)
• H and W are husband and wife. They had quarreled and fought for hours. W seeks to escape from his violence who had threatened to take her life W jumps out of the window and in doing so , she fell and broke her leg.

During the local government election at Wazobia, martins sought to damage ballot papers with chemicals. In doing so, he caused injuries to the presiding officer at the polling station section 332(a) cc.

Ike, a married man, contracted gonorrhea. He knew it, but his wife did not . Ike has carnal knowledge of his wife. The disease is communicated to her.

A aims a blow at C, misses and strikes and wounds B.

CONCLUSION

Wound means any incision or puncture which divides or pierces any exterior membrane of the body and any membrane is exterior for the purposes of this definition which can be touched without dividing or piercing any other membrane, Grievous harm is any harm which amounts to a maim or dangerous harm or which seriously or permanently injures health or which is likely so to injure health or which extends to permanent disfigurement or to any permanent or serious injury to any external or internal organ, member or sense. In this  context, harm means any bodily hurt, disease, or disorder, whether permanent or temporary injury

SUMMARY

In his unit, you learned bout wounding, and acts causing grievous bodily harm. You also learned about negligent acts or omissions such  as  failure to supply necessaries to one’s dependants or wards to whom is owe a duty of care.

TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Define the offence of wounding. What are the grounds of justification, which may possibly be raised on a charge of wounding and grievous bodily harm?

REFERENCES/FURTHHER READING

1. Jefferson , M G (2003), Criminal law 6^th Longman, London
2. Butler T. and Garsia M: (1969), Archbold, Pleading, Evidence and Practice, Sweet and Maxwell,
3. Madarikan C and Agada T, (1974) Brett and Mclean’s: The Criminal Law and Procedure of the Six Southern States of Nigeria, Sweet and Maxwell.
4. Ormord D (2005), Smith and Hogan Criminal Law. 11^th Ed . oxford University, Press ,London
5. Molan M (2003) Criminal law 4^th Ed . Old Bailey Press, London