Change the Perspective · Criminal law
Outside the Bar
England and Wales (criminal law, general principles). The roles are teaching roles, and the facts are invented.
The facts
At about half past midnight on a Saturday, a crowd leaves a town-centre bar and queues for taxis. Callum Reid (31) and Jordan Okafor (27), who do not know each other, stand near the front. In the crush Reid's drink is knocked from his hand. He says Okafor did it. Okafor says he did not. Voices rise, and a taxi marshal hears Reid say, "Say that again."
The marshal says he then saw Reid step towards Okafor with one arm raised, but could not see whether the hand held anything. Okafor, who is smaller and had drunk two beers, says he thought Reid was holding a bottle. No bottle is found. Reid's phone is picked up from the pavement nearby. Okafor punches Reid once in the face. Reid falls backwards and strikes his head on the kerb.
Reid has a fractured skull and spends nine days in hospital. He remembers the argument but not the moment before he fell, and had been drinking for several hours. The bar's door camera shows Reid stepping forward with his right side turned from the lens; it does not show the punch. Okafor's friend says he looked frightened. Okafor walked a few steps away, came back when he saw Reid on the ground, and called an ambulance. In his police interview he said at once that he thought Reid was about to hit him with something.
Okafor is charged with causing grievous bodily harm and pleads not guilty, saying he acted in self-defence. The trial is before a jury.
The working rules for this case
- A person may use reasonable force to defend themselves. Whether the force was reasonable is judged on the circumstances as the defendant honestly believed them to be, even if the belief was mistaken.
- Once the defendant raises self-defence, the prosecution must disprove it so that the jury is sure. The defendant does not have to prove it.
- A person acting in the heat of the moment is not expected to weigh the exact measure of force. A mistaken belief brought about by voluntary intoxication does not assist the defendant.
- The roles in this exercise are teaching roles. The charge and the procedure are simplified, and nothing here is advice about a real case.
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