Our expert criminal lawyers for wounding or grievous bodily harm with intent can help you:
- Obtain bail.
- Be found not guilty.
- Receive a lenient sentence, like no conviction and no prison.
You will be represented by a team of award-winning criminal lawyers, with 500+ five-star Google reviews, who offer fixed fees and free first consultations.
You can read our reviews here.
Wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent
The offence of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent is extremely serious. Although it is an offence that our criminal lawyers beat time and time again.
Intending to inflict grievous bodily harm is not easy to prove. A person who commits the offence must have intended to cause the victim really serious harm. That is the same intent required on a murder charge.
What is Grievous Bodily Harm?
Grievous bodily harm is a very serious injury that results in permanent disfiguring, the destruction of a foetus or any grievous bodily disease. This would include but is not limited to, broken limbs, serious psychiatric damage, brain injury, permanent disfigurement and anything that is likely to endanger life.
The Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) defines Grievous bodily harm as;
“(a) the destruction (other than in the course of a medical procedure or a termination of a pregnancy in accordance with the Abortion Law Reform Act 2019) of the foetus of a pregnant woman, whether or not the woman suffers any other harm, and
(b) any permanent or serious disfiguring of the person, and
(c) any grievous bodily disease (in which case a reference to the infliction of grievous bodily harm includes a reference to causing a person to contract a grievous bodily disease).”
While the injury must be very serious to be grievous bodily harm, it doesn’t necessarily have to be permanent or life-threatening. The court is responsible for determining whether the injury falls within the definition of grievous bodily harm or a lesser charge relating to causing actual bodily harm.
In general, grievous bodily harm is the most serious type of injury that can be caused, short of causing death.
Examples of Grievous Bodily Harm
Examples of grievous bodily harm include:
- Jaw and skull fractures.
- Serious psychological injury and/or brain damage.
- Causing Paraplegia or quadriplegia.
- Infecting someone with AIDS.
- Stabbings to organs cause life-threatening injuries.
- Facial fractures and lacerations causing permanent disfigurement, surgery, and/or ongoing pain or treatment.
- Causing a pregnant woman to lose her unborn baby or foetus.
What’s the difference between Wounding and Grievous Bodily Harm?
The difference between wounding and grievous bodily harm is the type of injury caused.
Wounding is a less serious injury than grievous bodily harm. The only requirement for a wound is that the injury breaks both the interior layer of skin (dermis) and the outer layer of skin (epidermis). Breaking or cutting just the outer layers/epidermis is not sufficient.
Grievous bodily harm does not require both layers of skin to be cut or broken, although an injury amounting to grievous bodily harm may involve a wound.
Difference between actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm?
The main difference between actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm is the severity of the injury. Grievous bodily harm is a more serious injury than actual bodily harm.
Actual bodily harm relates to non-permanent or minor injuries caused by an assault. This could be bruises, swelling, scratches, or grazes, for example. It could also include non-complex arm or leg fractures and minor lacerations.
There are often overlaps between actual bodily harm, wounding, and grievous bodily harm.
A good defence lawyer will be able to write to the police or the Director of Public Prosecutions to have a charge downgraded from grievous bodily harm to actual bodily harm or wounding.
Pleading not guilty
In order to be found guilty of the offence, the police must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was an intent to cause serious bodily harm.
You will be found not guilty of the offence of Wounding with intent to cause bodily harm if they cannot prove:
- You wounded any person.
- With intent to cause grievous bodily harm to that or any other person.
You can read more about grievous bodily harm with intent here.
You can read more information about pleading not guilty here.
The main defence for wounding or grievous bodily harm with intent is that the injuries are not serious enough to amount to grievous bodily harm. Another defence for grievous bodily harm charges is self-defence.
If the defence of self-defence is used, you must be able to satisfy the court that you acted in a way that was necessary to defend yourself and that your actions were reasonable given the circumstances as you perceived them.
Pleading guilty
If you plead guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent, we want to achieve the best possible result for you. We will often negotiate with prosecutors for you to plead guilty to less serious facts, or even a less serious charge, so that you get a lighter sentence.
The maximum penalty for wounding or grievous bodily harm with intent is 25 years’ imprisonment. Wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm is an extremely serious criminal offence.
Contact our office immediately if charged with wounding with intent or causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
You can read more about pleading guilty here.
Do I need references?
We believe references are an extremely important part of a plea of guilty in court. Read about court processes and how to write a good character reference.
Contact Australian Criminal Law Group
Our criminal lawyers, with 500+ five-star Google reviews, can beat a wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent charge or obtain a lenient sentence for you if you plead guilty.
Call us on (02) 8815 8167 for your free first conference or submit a website enquiry.
Case studies
No jail time – Charge downgraded
Our lawyer represented a man charged with two counts of Wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The defendant stabbed 3 people in a park. He had been assaulted himself just prior to that. After getting him bail in the Supreme Court, we negotiated pleas of guilty to charges of reckless wounding instead of Wounding with intent to cause bodily harm. Sentencing took place in the local court. The magistrate issued an Intensive Correction order without goal time.
No jail time – Charges downgraded
Our lawyer represented a young man charged with Wounding with intent to cause bodily harm. He had stabbed his step-father in the neck with a pair of scissors. Our lawyer argued that the act was impulsive in response to a domestic argument and that the young man had not intended to seriously harm his stepfather. The police accepted a reckless wounding charge and our client received a good behaviour bond.
No jail time – Charges downgraded
Our lawyer represented a man charged with grievous bodily harm after throwing a glass and striking a police officer during a brawl. Our lawyer was able to negotiate the charge to reckless wounding, a significantly less serious charge. He also presented a strong case on sentence and his client received a good behaviour bond.
No jail time – Self-defence
Our lawyer appealed the sentence of a client who had been originally charged with Wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. In the company of another person he had slashed a person’s face with a box cutter. On appeal, which was to a reckless wounding after negotiations with the DPP, it was argued the act of slashing at the victim was excessive self-defence. The Judge agreed and our client was released from jail that day.