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Affray

An affray is committed where a person uses or threatens unlawful violence towards another and his conduct is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his or her personal safety.

There are three aspects to which I must refer.

1.  using or threatening violence.  These are ordinary words with no special legal meaning.  ***Placing an axe against someone’s throat, raising a fist as if to punch someone and coming after people while banging poles and shouting can all amount to using or threatening violence.

2.  unlawful   You do not have to consider the word unlawful.  It simply provides a defence where violence is used or threatened in self defence. It does not apply in this case. 

3.  would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his or her personal safety  A person of reasonable firmness means an ordinary, average person.  Not someone who is a tough guy.  Not someone who is particularly timid - simply a person of reasonable firmness.

So, the key questions for you to answer in relation to Count *, having regard to all the evidence and the directions which I give you are

“Are you sure that ***?”

“Are you sure that ** caused the injuries **?”  

If the answer to both questions is “yes”, D** is guilty of Count *.  If the answer to either question is “no”, he is not guilty of Count *.

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