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General Criminal Conduct
Inflicting Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH)/Unlawful Wounding
Grounds of Appeal

General Criminal Conduct

In the context of confiscation proceedings, general criminal conduct is a type of benefit that the defendant is said to have accrued as a result of having a "criminal lifestyle", which is attributed to him/her by the virtue of the nature of his conviction(s).

If a defendant has been deemed to have a criminal lifestyle the prosecution are able to rely on a set of statutory assumptions that state, amongst other things, that any income the defendant has received during a period of years preceding the offence has derived from his/her general criminal conduct unless the defendant can prove its legitimacy (a reversal of the burden of proof).

Needless to say, if a defendant is found to have a criminal lifestyle, the stakes are considerably higher and the original sentence may even become academic compared to the potential default sentence that could be imposed if the defendant cannot satisfy the court of the legitimacy of their income over the preceding years.

Inflicting Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH)/Unlawful Wounding

Inflicting Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH)/Unlawful Wounding can be charged as one of two offences. The first, section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, requires the defendant to have specific intent (i.e. he/she has to have intended to cause harm). The second, section 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, does not (recklessness will suffice).

Both offences require the defendant to assault the victim thereby causing him/her to be wounded or suffer grievous bodily harm.

"Grievous bodily harm" has its everyday meaning, i.e. "really serious harm to the body".

"Wounding" means the breaking of the skin. However, the more appropriate charge for an assault resulting in a minor cut or laceration would be assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH).

Section 20 is an either-way offence, whilst section 18 (GBH/unlawful wounding with intent) is indictable-only and carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

If a prosecutor can show that the defendant's intention was to kill the victim then it may be more appropriate to charge the defendant with attempted murder.

Grounds of Appeal

The basis upon which an appeal is sought.

The Grounds of Appeal are normally contained within a document that will accompany an application to appeal.