Charged with Assault

If you have been charged with assault you will need a Barrister to represent your case in court.

Types of Assault

Assault charges can fall into a number of different categories.

• Simple
  • The most common type of assault. It is unprovoked, no weapon is used, includes physical contact without consent and is not sexual in nature. Injuries do not have to be obtained to consider this a proper form of assault.
• Aggravated
  • This is the type of assault that uses a weapon and/or an amount of increased force. Physical contact needs to be made and the victim requires medical attention for injuries.
• Sexual
  • The final main type of assault, it is the threat of unwanted sexual violence against the victim, making them fear for their safety, or unwanted sexual attention. This can be active, such as unwanted touching or sexual contact, or passive, such as forcing someone to watch a sexual act.

There are several other categories of assault, mostly falling under the physical umbrella, but these are the more major types to categorise these types with.

Penalties

If you are charged with assault there are various penalties that can apply to you from state to state. In Victoria, common offenses can see an imprisonment of 3 months, a fine, or 15 penalty units. More aggressive or serious charges can see a maximum imprisonment of 2 years, with more serious incidents seeing harsher penalties. Sexual assault has a wide range of assault types, with punishments often being imprisonment of 5-25 years, depending on the charge.

Defence

Defending against assault charges often focuses on if physical contact was made or not, and if the accused was acting in self-defence or not. For accusations such as sexual assault, self-defence would not be considered as a defence. However, for more common types of assault, self-defence is seen as the more common defence to charges of assault.

If you have been accused of assault, please contact us to discuss your case further.