Aggravated Assault
Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person
The Non-Fatal Offence against the  Person Act 1997 modernise law in relation to non-fatal offences against a person. Many common law crimes were abolished and replaced with statutory crimes.
The elements of the respective crimes are now defined by the statute. The common law immunity for parents, teachers and other persons in loco parentis to use reasonable chastisement was abolished.
Force
Force may be applied directly or indirectly. The direct application of force would include immediate, personally inflicted violence. It would also include setting a dangerous animal or some other direct act that causes an immediate personal impact.
Indirect assault embraces a range of possibilities. It may arise from something some considerable time before the relevant event. It may for example, involve setting a dangerous device.
Force refers to any physical force but also includes heat, light, electric current noise or another form of energy or the application of something in solid,liquid or gaseous form.
No offence is committed if the force of impact is not intended or likely to cause injury and is in the circumstances such as is generally acceptable in the ordinary conduct of daily life and the defendant does not know or believe that it is, in fact, unacceptable to the other person.
Assault Causing Harm
The offence of assault causing harm is committed when a person assaults another, causing him or her harm. There is no requirement of intention or recklessness, as in the case of simple assault. Harm includes any harm to the body or mind.  It includes pain and unconsciousness.
In order to be guilty of assault causing harm, Â the person must be guilty of ordinary assault and harm as defined in the legislation must have occurred.
Aggravated assault is assault causing harm. It can be prosecuted summarily or on indictment. On summary trial, the maximum penalty is €1,905 or 12 months imprisonment or both. On conviction on indictment, the maximum penalty is fine or 5 years’ imprisonment.
This offence replaced the older offence of assault causing bodily harm under the  Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Cases under that Act illuminate the meaning of harm. Harm includes most hurts or injuries which interfere with health and comfort.
Non-fatal strangulation or non-fatal suffocation
A person shall be guilty of an offence who, without lawful excuse, intentionally or recklessly—
- strangles or suffocates another, or
- causes another to believe on reasonable grounds that he or she is likely immediately to be subjected to suffocation or strangulation.
In a prosecution it shall be a defence for the accused to show that the other consented to the strangulation or suffocation of which the offence consists.
A person guilty of an offence shall be liable—
- on summary conviction, to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both, or
- on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, or to both.
A person charged with an offence if the evidence does not warrant a conviction for that offence but warrants a conviction for assault causing harm, be found guilty of that offence.
- “strangle” includes applying, directly or indirectly, force to the neck of another so as to impede breathing or the circulation of blood;
- “suffocate” includes— asphyxiating another, and  impeding the breathing of another, including by— covering the mouth or nose,  constricting the chest, or  blocking, by means of a foreign object, the airways, of the other.
Assault with Intent
Any person who assaults any person with intent to cause bodily harm or to commit an indictable offence shall be guilty of an offence. A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding € 2,500 ] r to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.
Where it appears to a member of the Garda SÃochána of Superintendent rank or above, that it is necessary in the interest of preserve order to restrict access of persons to the place where the event is taking place which is likely to attract a large assembly of persons, he may authorise  Gardai to put in place barriers on any road, street, lane, alley or other means of access to such a place in a position not more than one mile therefrom for the purpose of regulating the access of persons or vehicles thereto.
Assault Causing Serious Harm
Assault causing serious harm is a separate offence. As with simple assault evidence of intention or recklessness is required. The penalty on conviction is a fine or imprisonment for any term up to life.
It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly cause serious harm to another. Unlike the previous species of assault, intention or recklessness is required. This offence replaced offences under the Offences Against a Person Act of wounding with intent and unlawful wounding.
Serious harm and injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which cause serious disfigurement or substantial loss or impairment of the mobility of the body as a whole or of the function of any particular bodily member or organs. The harm need not be permanent or have serious long-term consequences.
The offence may be constituted where persons indirectly cause others to suffer injury. Examples include where panic is caused in a closed place or when a person is threatened in such a way as to injure himself while escaping for example, by jumping out of a window.
An assault causing harm requires proof of an assault and harm to the mind or body. This includes pain and unconsciousness. Serious harm is an injury that causes a substantial risk of death, serious disfigurement, substantial loss or impairment of the body’s mobility as a whole or substantial loss or impairment of a function of any organ or body member.
A person may only consent if he or she has the mental capacity to do so. The victim may consent to the infliction of some degree of harm. However, the absence of consent is not an element in respect of the offence of assault causing serious harm. There may be some exceptions where it may be possible to have a defence to the infliction of serious harm, for example, in the course of boxing or sports.
Non-fatal strangulation or suffocation causing serious harm
A person who intentionally or recklessly causes serious harm to another by suffocating or strangling the other shall be guilty of an offence. Â A person guilty of this offence is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for life or to both.
A person charged with an offence under subsection (1) may, if the evidence does not warrant a conviction for that offence but warrants a conviction for an offence under section 4, be found guilty of an offence under section 4.
In this section, “strangle” and “suffocate” have the meanings they have in section 3A (inserted by section 21 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023).]
Stabbing with Threatening Syringe
It is an offence to injure or threaten to injure another person by piercing their skin with a syringe with either the intent of causing to believe that they may have been infected with a disease or where there is a likelihood of causing such a belief.
The maximum punishment a fine, 10 years imprisonment or both. The act must be intentional or reckless regarding the stabbing or threat to stab.
It is an offence to spray, pour or put blood or blood-like substances on another person or threaten to do so with the intention of causing a belief of infection in the victim or where there is a likelihood of causing such a belief.
It is an offence to injure another person by intentionally piercing his or her skin with a contaminated syringe or intentionally spray, pour, or put contaminated blood onto another person or to do either to a third party while committing or attempting to commit this offence. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment.
A contaminated syringe is one containing contaminated blood or fluid. This is blood containing any disease, virus agent or organism that could be life-threatening or potentially life-threatening to another in his bloodstream.
It is an offence to possess a syringe in a public place or blood container with intent to cause or threaten to cause an injury to or intimidate another person.
It is an offence to place or abandon a syringe in a public place in a manner likely to injure another person or which does, in fact, injure a person or where it is likely to injure cause or threat or frighten another person.
Poisoning
A person shall be guilty of an offence if, knowing that the other does not consent to what is being done, he or she intentionally or recklessly administers to or causes to be taken by another a substance which he or she knows to be capable of interfering substantially with the other’s bodily functions.  A substance capable of inducing unconsciousness or sleep is capable of interfering substantially with bodily functions.
It is not necessary that the substance be a poison but only that it is capable of substantially interfering with bodily functions. It need not be shown that it actually interferes with bodily functions.
The person must know that the other does not consent to what is being done. He or she must intentionally or recklessly administer to or cause to be taken by another a substance which he or she knows to be capable of interfering substantially with the other’s bodily functions. A substance capable of inducing unconsciousness or sleep is capable of interfering substantially with bodily functions.
A person guilty of an offence shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €1,905 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.
Assaulting Medical Personnel
It is an offence carrying an increased level of fine and imprisonment to assault or threaten to assault persons providing medical services at a hospital or persons assisting them, persons who are officers of the peace or other persons assisting with intent to resist or prevent lawful apprehension of the detention of himself or another.
A person may be liable on summary conviction for a fine up to €5,000  and imprisonment not exceeding 12 months or an indictment for a fine and/ or imprisonment not exceeding 7 years.
A person who willfully resists or obstructs any of the above persons is guilty of an offence subject on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €2,500 or 6 months imprisonment or both. An officer of the peace includes a member of Garda SÃochána, a prison officer, a member of the fire brigade, ambulance, or member of the defence forces.
Threat to Kill or Cause Serious Injury
It is an offence to threaten to kill or cause serious harm to any person and to communicate the threat by any means to any person, whether the person is threatened or not provided that the accused intended that the recipient believe the threat.
A person guilty of this offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €1,905 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to both.
• It is an offence to do any of the following without lawful authority in order to compel a person to refrain from doing something he or she is legally entitled to do or to do something which he or she is legally entitled not to do.
• use violence or intimidation to that person or his or her family
• injuring or damaging his or her property
• persistently following him or her from place to place
• watching or possessing his or her place of residence or business or the approaches thereto or any other place where that person happens to be or
• following him or her with others in a disorderly fashion
Property includes money or animals or other things.