Collins v Wilcock

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.