Companion Website

Police Law - Ninth Edition

Chapter 33 - Sexual Offences, Child Abduction and Kidnapping

Chapter 33 - Sexual Offences, Child Abduction and Kidnapping

Arrestable offences p 867

Delete this heading and the text below it.

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Sexual assault p 869-870

Whether a touching is sexual must be answered by looking at the actual touching and applying the words of SOA 2003, s 78. 'Touching' can include touching a person's clothing without applying any form of pressure to his body. Where the accused's touching is not capable of being sexual, but the accused's intention is to commit a sexual offence, a charge under SOA 2003, s 62 will be appropriate if the touching constitutes an offence in itself. This was stated in a case where the Court of Appeal held that a conviction for sexual assault was not unsafe where the accused had approached a woman and asked if she fancied 'a shag' whereupon he grabbed her track-suit bottom in the area of a side pocket and tried to pull her towards him, at which she managed to escape. [R v H [2005] 2 All ER 859]

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Exceptions: [marriage and existing sexual relationships] pp 878, 880, 886

The exceptions from offences under SOA 2003, ss 16-19, 25, 26, 38-41 for an accused who is married to the other party to the sexual behaviour were extended to an accused who is the civil partner of the other party by amendments to the 2003 Act by the Civil Partnership Act 2004 which came into force in December 2005.

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Family relationships pp 879-880

In (b)(I) and (iii) under this heading references to a step-parent or step-child of a person are to be read as follows: a person's step-parent includes someone who is the civil partner of that person's parent (but is not that person's parent), and a person's step-child includes someone who is the child of that person's civil partner (but not that person's child): Civil Partnership Act 2004 ss 246, 247, Sch 9 (amended by SI 2005/3137).

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Offence of failure to comply with notification requirements p 895

Delete 'arrestable' from first line.

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General p 900

Delete last paragraph 'Both offences are arrestable offences'.

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Procedural points p 901

Delete 'arrestable' from first line. Delete 'serious arrestable offence'. The provisions relating to serious arrestable offences now apply to all indictable offences. Kidnapping is an indictable offence.