can anyone please let me know if there is a difference between common assault and asault by beating?

Question

does this carry a custodial sentence, Many Thanks

in English law

Answer 1

What country are you in?
In the UK, the offence of assault (any type of assault) comes under the offences against the person act 1861.
Assault is just another way of describing the offence of battery, without getting too technical.
Common assault is section 39 of the act, actual bodily harm is section 47, grievous bodily harm is section 18 or 20 of the act.
In simple terms, each is defined based on the level of injury.
Common assault is generally physical contact with no injury
ABH is contact leaving slight injury (marks or drawing blood)
GBH is generally severe injury (broken bones etc)
However, the CPS charging standards differ from the level defined for an arrest.
All assault offences (as are all offences these days) are arrestable.
Common assault and battery can carry a custodial sentence but this would depend on a lot of factors.
Hope this helps
(For info re Anon's answer. Magistrates can impose a fine of up to £5000)

Answer 2

Common Assault And Battery

Answer 3

Assault is an unlawful use of force towards another causing them to fear that force will be inflicted upon them there and then. So simply swinging for someone and not contacting is assault.

Assaults are graded by the injury caused or intended.

At the lowest level there is simple Common Assault. This is where unlawful violence is used and someone is caused fear, so that's where you go for someone but miss or don't actually touch them for whatever reason.

Next comes Common assault and battery. That is where you use unlawful force and actual contact occurs but you only cause a very minor injury e.g. reddening of the skin.


You can only be tried in a Magistrates Court for Common assault. That means the maximum sentence is 6 months imprisonment or £1,000.

In reality the sentence is usually a very low fine, community sentence or similar low level punishment, unless you are a repeat offender or there are other reasons to increase the punishment.

Answer 4

as so many people have already exhausted a common assault is lowest level of assault.
but their is a difference
They Both come under S39 offence against the persons act, and Both carry the exact same penalty at court.

But the charge of assault by beating is merely a way to show and offence where the injuries are the same as a common assault but and actual strike has been used against the victime.

They both carry the penalty of 6 months imprisonment or £5000 at magistrates court.

Answer 5

There is no such thing as assault by beating.Common assault is usually an assault involving little or no injury and yes it can carry a custodial sentence but rarely does I personally arrested a man for ABH. he went to crown court pleaded guilty to common assault and got 3 moths first offence,but this is rare it is usually dealt with at magistrates court and dealt with very leniently.

Answer 6

Here is Canada there are different levels of assault
1. Assault level one (no or minor injuries)
2. Assault with a weapon or Assault cause bodily harm (injuries that are more than trifling or transient in nature)
3. Aggravated assault (serious permanent injuries)

The cause of the injury (beating) is not as important as the level of injury. All three are punishable by imprisonment, and the number of years goes up with the levels. Whether someone gets jail time depends on the injuries and the person's criminal record.

Answer 7

im not sure what you mean by custondial stendence. but what we call battery(assault) is usually fighting fist no wepons just basic common fight the assult by beating also know as agggervated asult with battery can be a felony usually involves a wepon or can and usually like a basic throw down and can be where someone was left marks or badly beaten

Answer 8

Any attack on your 'person' is an assault.

Where physical violence is involved there are various terms used to try to indicate the severity of the attack.

Charges typically referred to are, assault and battery, ABH- Actual bodily harm, GBH- Grevious bodily harm, attempted murder.

If you have suffererd any kind of assault or abuse please report it to the police, don't wait for it to escalate.

Answer 9

common assault, no bruising simple a push a shove punch that causes no redddening of the skin etc

Answer 10

If someone tries to hit you and misses,then it's assault.
If someone tries to hit you and makes contact with any part of your body,then it's assault and battery.
Depending on what state you live,both are crimes.