8 Months For A Haircut?

[nailit]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-43825429
//Abdulrahim Omar, 21, from Bedford, gave the boy a "number one" haircut while others sat around and laughed, Luton Crown Court heard.//
Is it just me or does anyone else find this sentence a bit OTT?

[steg]

What were they charged with the same offence like?

[jackthehat]

///He said: “The aggravating factor in this unusual case is the age of the victim and the fact he was subject to punishment and humiliation.”

Read more at: https://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/news/bedford-barber-guilty-of-abh-after-shaving-head-of-a-10-year-old-boy-1-8425243///

[pixie374]

It sounds fair enough to me. I googled the definition and part of it says
//




Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) under S.47




The offence of actual bodily harm is set out in S.47 Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Which provides that it is an offence to commit an assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Whilst the statute only refers to assault, the offence may also be committed by a battery. In fact it is far more common for offences under s.47 to be committed by battery rather than by an assault. Actual bodily harm is a triable-either-way offence. The maximum sentence for ABH is 5 years imprisonment.



Actus reus of ABH

Assault or battery
which causes
Actual bodily harm








Assault or battery


To constitute an offence under s.47 all the elements of an assault or battery must be present. However, some factors which may make an assault or battery lawful can not be applied to make an offence under s.47 lawful in particular:


Reasonable punishment of a child S.58 Children Act 2004


Consent

A-G ref no 6 of 1980 [1981] QB 715 Case summary

It used to be lawful for parents or others in loco parentis to use reasonable force in order to chastise children:

R v Hopley (1860) 2 F&F 202 Case summary



However, English law regarding lawful chastisement was held to be in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights:




A v UK (1999) 27 EHRR 611 Case summary


Lawful chastisement was abolished by s.58 of the Children Act 2004 and replaced with reasonable punishment of a child. This can not be used as a defence in relation to ABH, GBH or wounding but may be allowed in assault and battery only.





The assault or battery must cause actual bodily harm



This requires a consideration of both factual and legal causation.




Actual Bodily Harm





The meaning of actual bodily harm was considered in:






R v Miller [1954] 2 All ER 529 Case summary



Lynsky J:
"Actual bodily harm includes any hurt or injury calculated to interfere with the health or comfort of the victim"




R v Chan Fook [1994] 1 WLR 689 Case summary



LJ Hobhouse:

"The word "actual" indicates that the injury (although there is no need for it to be permanent) should not be so trivial as to be wholly insignificant."




Bodily harm


Bodily harm can include psychiatric injury see:






R v Chan Fook [1994] 1 WLR 689 Case summary





R v Ireland [1997] 3 WLR 534 Case summary



Bodily harm also includes the cutting off of hair://

So it includes the humiliation and haircutting.

[dannyk13]

ymb. Hospitalisation would have brought a more serious charge.

//Actual Bodily Harm is defined as any injury which is calculated to interfere with the health or comfort of the victim.//

[pixie374]

Sorry- no idea how I managed to c&p all that on a phone. Basically- cutting hair is counted as bodily harm and so is a psychological impact such as humiliation.

[nailit]

//ymb. Hospitalisation would have brought a more serious charge.//
Not neccessarily.

[steg]

//Not neccessarily//
But most likely

[nailit]

//Sorry- no idea how I managed to c&p all that on a phone//
Because you are a techno wiz Pix ;-)

[youngmafbog]

"ymb. Hospitalisation would have brought a more serious charge. "

That statement is incorrect.

perhaps :

"ymb. Hospitalisation MAY have brought a more serious charge.

[nailit]

Steg, 20 odd years ago I put one of my neighbors in the hospital after he tried pick a fight with me. I was charged with *ABH*

[pixie374]

Clearly not, nailit :-). I only wanted 2 sentences!

[jackthehat]

Was he 10 years old, nailit?

*That's* the aggravating factor here, as per my link...

[steg]

Steg, 20 odd years ago I put one of my neighbors in the hospital after he tried pick a fight with me. I was charged with *ABH*//

Again, so what?

[nailit]

Yes I CAN understand that jack, but I just cant see how humiliating someone...child or otherwise...now amounts to ABH.
Is every child that is now humiliated by a teacher, parent etc going to be dialling 999? I just dont get it.

[jackthehat]

If you do something like that to a child who isn't your own.....you're likely to end up in similar bother.

Teachers don't regularly shave a child's head and invite his classmates to point and laugh....

[nailit]

//Again, so what?//
Because I'm trying to show that yours, and Dannys, assumption that hospitalization will lead to a greater charge, is wrong.

[steg]

but I just cant see how humiliating someone...child or otherwise...now amounts to ABH. ///

It doesn’t , that act of forcefully shaving the child’s head is

[nailit]

//It doesn’t , that act of forcefully shaving the child’s head is//
Fair enough but I just cant see why that is now considered to be an ABH charge. Assault certainly but ABH?

[jackthehat]

Perhaps he was injured?
I'd imagine he had to be held still......quite forcefully.

[steg]

Cause it is, that’s why.
Forcefully shaving someone’s head is causing actual bodily harm, you don’t have to smash someone’s teeth in