Types of crimes against people exercise part 1

Although the law can be very confusing, you would have thought that the one area in which it isn't, is in what makes specific actions (like threatening someone or hitting someone) particular crimes. However, this is not always the case. And people who haven't studied the law are often surprised what does and doesn't constitute a specific criminal offence, like battery for example.

In this first part of two online exercises on criminal offences against people (which are often violent) you will learn, understand and remember the names of crimes where the result is injury or damage (physical, emotional or psychological) to people. These are the names of the crimes in the "common law" legal system, the system of law which is used in the majority of English-speaking countries.

Do the quiz at the end of the exercise to both ensure you correctly understand the different criminal offences and to help you to remember them in the future.

However, before you start, you need to be aware that although the names of most criminal offences are the same or very similar in all countries which have a legal system based on common law, some crimes do have different names in different countries (or even states in America). For example, "aggravated burglary" in the English legal system is generally called "home invasion" in the American legal system. Where a criminal offence has different names to that in the exercise, this name (or names) will be given in the "learn more" section for each question in the exercise quiz at the end of the web page.

I would recommend that you also do the second part of this exercise, to learn more crimes which are violent or against people.

Exercise: Crimes against people

Read the following conversation between two friends, Peter and Juan, who are talking about crimes which are either violent or against people.

The words in bold are the names of different types of criminal offences. Remember them because at the end of the text there is a quiz to check your understanding.

Peter:'Morning Juan. You look very tired. Didn't you sleep well last night?'

Juan:'No, I didn't.'

Peter:'Why?'

Juan:'There is a group of teenagers who often hang out in front of my house. Last night they were drunk and shouting until the early hours of the morning. So, I didn't sleep well.'

Peter:'You should have called the police because they were engaging in anti-social behaviour, which is a crime.'

Juan:'They weren't violent, they were just loud and drunk.'

Peter:'Engaging in a type of behaviour which is regarded as unacceptable in a public place, (like being very drunk) or which affects their neighbours (like playing very loud music), is the criminal offence of anti-social behaviour. It is not a serious crime, but it is a crime all the same.'

Juan:'So football hooliganism is an example of anti-social behaviour?'

Peter:'Yeah, it can be. If in addition to being loud and drunk and damaging things, they are actually fighting or being very aggressive amongst themselves in a public place, then they are committing the crime of affray. Engaging in a behaviour which causes other people not involved to fear for their safety.'

Juan:'With the kids outside my house, would it have been anti-social behaviour or affray if I had gone out to tell them to be quiet and they had threatened to hurt me?'

Peter:'It wouldn't be affray because they weren't fighting or acting aggressively amongst themselves. But by threatening to physically hurt you, they are committing another crime in addition to anti-social behaviour. That is the crime of assault.'

Juan:'But isn't assault when you physically attack someone? People say that someone assaulted them when they have been physically attacked.'

Peter:'Yes, and it can and it is in some countries used with that meaning. But traditionally in legal English, it just means to be threatened without any physical contact. If someone does touch you; they punch, slap or push you in an aggressive way for example, the criminal offence is called battery.'

Juan:'So sometimes assault means physically attacking someone and sometimes it just means threatening without physical contact. It is very confusing.'

Peter:'I know, that's the law for you. Never simple!'

Juan:'One of my friends actually got badly beaten up by a group of five men last year for no reason. They kicked him in the head several times. He was in hospital for a week because of his injuries. So the people who had done it, would have been charged with the crime of battery then?'

Peter:'Actually no. The crime of battery is normally used against a person where the victim receives minor injuries, like bruises for example, but nothing serious. If your friend was in the hospital for a week, I presume your friend suffered serious injuries. In that case, the people who did it would be charged with the more serious crime of aggravated assault and battery.'

Juan:'He did suffer serious injuries. At one point the doctors thought that he may die, but fortunately he didn't.'

Peter:'If he had died, the people who attacked him could have been charged with murder.'

Juan:'But isn't the crime of murder only when someone plans before to kill someone and then does it?'

Peter:'The unlawful killing of someone doesn't only have to be planned for it to be considered as the crime of murder. You can also commit the crime of murder if you kill somebody without planning to do it, but you do something violent to them which any reasonable person should know could very likely kill them. You said that they kicked him in the head several times. Everyone knows that that could kill someone.'

Juan:'So what crime would it be if I got into a fight after having an argument with a stranger in the street and as a result of the fight, he dies of his injuries. Would that be regarded as murder as well?'

Peter:'In that situation you would have committed the crime of voluntary manslaughter. There wasn't any planning to kill, but you were doing something which was violent against him (i.e. the fighting) which could potentially cause their death or serious injury.'

Juan:'But that is the same as murder, isn't it?'

Peter:'Yes, but in the situation you gave me, there was some provocation, i.e. the argument which caused the fight. And because of that provocation, if he died you would probably be charged with voluntary manslaughter instead of murder. But with your friend, the group of men attacked him for no other reason than to physically hurt him. You see the difference?'

Juan:'Yeah, I think. Is voluntary manslaughter what some people call a crime of passion?'

Peter:'Yeah. People are often charged with voluntary manslaughter when they become violent and lose control because of something happening and then kill somebody. It is less severely punished than murder.'

Juan:'And would it be voluntary manslaughter if I killed someone whilst I was drunk driving?'

Peter:'No, it wouldn't. Mainly because you are not doing something which is intentionally violent towards someone or you want to hurt them. Their death has resulted from you doing something which you know you shouldn't do (e.g. driving when drunk) or not doing something you know you should (e.g. forgetting to cover a deep hole in the ground which someone subsequently falls down into and dies from). This type of homicide is called involuntary manslaughter, you kill somebody as a result of doing something badly.'

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Quiz:

Below is a definition/description of each of the crimes in bold from the above text. Now choose the crime from the question's selection box which you believe answers each question. Only use one crime once. Click on the "Check Answers" button at the bottom of the quiz to check your answers.

When the answer is correct, two icons will appear next to the question which you can press/click on. In the first icon, , you can find extra information about the word/phrase (e.g. when, where and how to use etc...). In the second, , is where you can listen to the word/phrase.

1. When someone plans and/or intends to kill another person, it is called

Murder:
(noun) Also called "murder in the first-degree or in the second-degree". A type of homicide where a person deliberately/intentionally kills another person unlawfully. It is regarded as "murder" if there is planning/premeditation to the action (e.g. a person knowingly puts poison in another's food). But even if there isn't any planning/premeditation to kill someone, it can still be regarded as "murder" instead of "manslaughter" if a person does an action which they should know will (or is very likely to) kill somebody. So shooting a kidnap victim while they are trying to escape would be considered "murder".

Murder:

2. When someone threatens to hurt somebody, but doesn't actually touch them physically, it is called

Assault:
(noun) This is a minor crime where there is a threat of violence made to another person and there is emotional harm as a consequence. Contrary to common usage of the word (and this is what it is confusing), "assault" in this legal usage of the word doesn't mean to be physically attacked, but to be threatened with violence. It doesn't have to be a verbal threat either, it can also be the perpetrator's non-verbal actions which indicate a threat (e.g. making a fist and pulling back your arm) without any actual physical contact.

It is the term "battery" which actually refers to the actual unlawful physical contact/touching. Although to make things confusing, "assault" in legal English can be used with the meaning of "battery".

Assault:

3. When someone accidentally kills another person because of negligence or recklessness, it is called

Involuntary manslaughter:
(noun) A type of homicide where a person kills another person unlawfully without either any planning/premedition and intention to do so. With "involuntary manslaughter" someone dies as a result of recklessness or negligence (they were doing something which a normal person should know was putting others at risk). For example, killing someone while speeding or driving drunk, or forgetting to give a patient some medication which leads to their death are examples of "involuntary manslaughter". The punishment for "involuntary manslaughter" is much less severe than it is for either "voluntary manslaughter" or "murder".

Involuntary manslaughter:

4. When someone does actions which are socially unacceptable and can negatively impact the lives of others, it is called

Anti-social behaviour:
(noun) It is a minor non-violent crime where the actions and behaviour of a person causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to persons not of the same household as the person. Examples of anti-social behaviour include vandalism, graffiti, drunkenness in public places, a person who disturbs their neighbours by their behaviour, begging etc...

Anti-social behaviour:

5. When someone both threatens and physically hurts someone, and the injuries are severe and serious, it is often called

Aggravated assault and battery:
(noun) Also called "aggravated assault" or "grievous bodily harm" (GBH). This is a serious crime where someone is physically attacked (often with some form of deadly weapon) which leads to both serious physical injuries (like disfigurement, loss of limbs, broken bones, head injuries) and emotional harm. The damage done to the victim is more serious than simple "assault and battery" and as a result is more severely punished by the courts.

Aggravated assault and battery:

6. When two or more people get involved in a fight in public place, they can be charged by the police with

Affray:
(noun) It is a public order offence and consists of the fighting of two or more persons in a public place. In addition, a person can be charged with affray even if they haven't been physically violent, but their conduct/behaviour would reasonably make a person witnessing it fear for their own safety.

Affray:

7. When someone without planning kills another person because of a provoking situation (e.g. an argument), it is called

Voluntary manslaughter:
(noun) A type of homicide where a person kills another person unlawfully without any planning/premedition. However, for the act to be judged to be "voluntary manslaughter" rather than "murder" (which doesn't always have to be planned or premeditated), there has to be some form of reasonable provocation or emotion involved when doing it. For example, when a man kills his intimate partner while having a violent argument or when a person kills somebody when in a fight in a bar.

Because "reasonable provocation" is a vague concept, if the death happens in such situations the prosecution may still try to get the person convicted of "murder" instead of "voluntary manslaughter", which is a more serious crime and punished more by the courts.

Voluntary manslaughter:

8. When someone physically hurts someone, but the injuries are minor and not serious, it is often called

Battery:
(noun) Sometimes called "simple battery" or "actual bodily harm" (ABH) and also sometimes "assault". This is a minor crime where someone is physically attacked and there are minor physical injuries and/or emotional harm as a consequence. This could be punching someone, slapping someone, scratching someone or pushing/pulling someone. Where there is more serious harm/injuries to the victim, the perpetrator would be charged with a different crime, e.g. "aggravated assault and battery".

Battery:

I would recommend that you now do the second part of this exercise, to learn more crimes which are violent or against people.

Click to see more legal English exercises

Practice

Now that you understand the new vocabulary, practise it by creating your own sentences with the new words/phrases.

This is me, Chris Clayton, the owner and main writer for Blair English. I'm also a part-time English teacher in sunny Spain. I have a love of history and the web. I hope you find the website useful.