Collins v Wilcock 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 is a leading case. Expanding on Sir John Holt's definition of intent in Cole v Turner, Lord Goff's ruling in Collins v Wilcock narrowed the law. "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.
References
- 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 https://books.google.com/books?id=50lKAQAAIAAJ
- 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 17âÂÂ01, 17âÂÂ04, 17âÂÂ05, 22-119 and 27âÂÂ113.
- Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice. 1999 Edition. Paragraphs 19âÂÂ171, 19-175 and 19-271.