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Ashley v Chief Constable of Sussex Police

Facts: A police offer, as part of a team, had been involved in a drugs bust and found a man naked an unarmed; he was, therefore, in no position to threaten the police officer. Nevertheless, the police officer believed he was being physically threatened so shot him dead. A question arose about the circumstances in which self defence could be pleaded: can self-defence be used when the defendant is mistaken about the physical threat to him?

Held: The House of Lords held, as a provisional matter, that a defendant can use self-defence on a mistaken belief about the physical threat he/she faces, so long as it is reasonable. The defence would not be available where the defendant had unreasonably believed that he was under attack.

Cole v Turner (1704)

Held: If two people accidentally touch each other on a packed train that will not be a battery i.e. that is acceptable contact

Collins v Wilcock [1984]

Facts: A police offider held the arm of a woman suspected of being a prostitute

Held: Since he was not exercising his power of arrest he could not hold her as that went beyond what is acceptable physical contact to engage someone's attention

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In re T (Adult: Refusal of Treatment) [1993]

Facts: T was heavily pregnant and that is the first thing that made the doctors extra sensitive. She was invovled in a serious car accident and she was bought to hospital and she needed a blood transfusion, however she refused to go through with is. The doctors, therefore, went to court to ask for permission to conduct the blood transfusion.

Held: The court told the doctors it was fine to conduct the blood transfusion as T did not really mean to refuse treatment. It was said that T did not mean to refuse treatment because she was heavily medicated at the time and when she refused her mother (being a Jehovah's WItness and, therefore, against blood transfusions) was by her side.

Re F (Mental Patient: Sterilisation) [1990]

Facts: F was a mental patient. She was in her mid 30s but she had the mental age of a small child. She was a voluntary in-patient at a mental hospital and she formed a sexual relationship with another patitent, but the doctors said there was no way she would be able to handle the effects of pregnancy and child birth. They decided contraception wouldn't work well for her and that keeping her from socialising would not be a good idea either. So, they decided that they wanted to let her do what she wants but sterilise her. They therefore went to court to allow them to do this.

Held: The court said, on balance, this is a woman who cannot go through pregnancy and handle child birth without destroying her mentally. So, although not being able to have children is grave for any woman, it shouldn't be too bad for this woman as it is a route she shouldn't really be going down for her own sake and the sake of her child - so she was sterilised

Scott v Shepherd [1773]

Facts: The defendant threw a lit squib into a market. The squib was thrown on several times, before exploding and injuring the claimant (causing him to lose the use of one eye).

Held: The court said that the physical contact was still direct, and the people in the middle (who threw the squib on) didn’t interfere with the directness

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