can anyone tell me what a section 18 wounding is under the criminal justice act is?

Question

If a person has been charged on two counts of section 18 what would this mean

Answer 1

Wounding/causing grievous bodily harm with intent, contrary to section 18 Offences Against the Person Act 1861.
Refer to (Archbold 19-199) for the law.

The offence is committed when a person unlawfully and maliciously, with intent to do some grievous bodily harm, or with intent to resist or prevent the lawful apprehension or detainer of any other person, either:
wounds another person; or
causes grievous bodily harm to another person.
It is an indictable only offence, which carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for life.
For the definition of wounding and grievous bodily harm, see paragraphs 4(iii) to 4(v) above.
The distinction between charges under section 18 and section 20 is one of intent.
The gravity of the injury resulting is not the determining factor, although it may provide some evidence of intent.
When charging an offence involving grievous bodily harm, consideration should be given to the fact that a section 20 offence requires the infliction of harm, whereas a section 18 offence requires the causing of harm. This may be of some significance when considering alternative verdicts, (section 7 below). However this distinction has been greatly reduced by the decision of the House of Lords in R v Ireland; R v Burstow [1998] A.C 147 (Archbold 19-208).
Factors that may indicate the specific intent include:
a repeated or planned attack;
deliberate selection of a weapon or adaptation of an article to cause injury, such as breaking a glass before an attack;
making prior threats;
using an offensive weapon against, or kicking the victim's head.
The evidence of intent required is different if the offence alleged is a wounding or the causing of grievous bodily harm with intent to resist or prevent the lawful apprehension or detainer of any person. This part of section 18 is of assistance in more serious assaults upon police officers, where the evidence of an intention to prevent arrest is clear, but the evidence of an intent to cause grievous bodily harm is in doubt. (Archbold 19-213 to 19-214).
It is not bad for duplicity to indict for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm or to resist lawful apprehension in one count, although it is best practice to include the allegations in separate counts. This will enable a jury to consider the different intents and the court to sentence on a clear basis of the jury's finding.

Answer 2

Please note the answers above that point out that section 18 is NOT an either way offence - its indictable only and the max sentence is life imprisonment. Its section 18 Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (wounding or causing grevious bodily harm with intent) and if your brother's attacker is convicted he will almost certainly serve time and potentially quite a lengthy stretch. Current sentencing guidleines say that the starting point for a 'run of the mill' s.18 offence is a bracket of 3 to 8 years but use of a weapon is a crucial aggravating factor. Bear in mind that if there isn't enough to convict on s.18 then a verdict can be returned on s.20 (as above but without the intent to wound etc) which is a less serious form of the same offence where the sentence is likely to be less (max 5 years).

Answer 3

Wounding/causing grievous bodily harm with intent is contrary to section 18 Offences Against The Person Act 1861

The offence is committed when a person unlawfully and maliciously, with intent to do some grievous bodily harm, or with intent to resist or prevent the lawful apprehension or detainer of any other person, either:

wounds another person; or
causes grievous bodily harm to another person.
It is an indictable only offence, which carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for life.

So if they have been charged with 2 counts under sec 18, that means they caused gbh twice, with the intent of doing so rather than an accident ( i didnt mean to hit him that hard) they actually meant to hit them that hard !

Answer 4

An offence under section 18 of that Act means that they have been accused of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. It is classed as a 'serious specified offence' under schedule 15 and as such will usually be sentenced to either an extended sentence, detention for public protection or Life if approprite - probably not if this is a first offence.

The sentence for this is a minimum of 12 months plus an extended licence period.

Answer 5

someone i know had an attempted murder charge dropped to the lesser charge of section 18 ,with intent...not sure exactly what it involves-but its right up thier in the jail terms...

Answer 6

Looking at it this section appears to deal with the fining provisions and how they judge the severity of the assault for magistrates.

xxB

Answer 7

its 2 counts of GBH which is more serious than s . 47 ABH

Answer 8

James A is your man for this question

Answer 9

James A.... answer is spot on.

Answer 10

jail