A person may use such force as is reasonable
in the circumstances in the prevention of crime, or in effecting
or assisting in the lawful arrest of offenders or suspected
offenders or of persons unlawfully at large.
That sounds like a mouthful!! but
don't worry because all you need to know is the first
part.
SUCH FORCE AS IS REASONABLE IN THE
CIRCUMSTANCES IN THE PREVENTION OF CRIME.
You being assaulted is a crime
,therefore you have a right to defend yourself.
What is considered to be defending
yourself depends on the circumstances.
EG: You believe you are about to
be punched or you have just been punched, if you were to
strike out to prevent you being hit then this would be
reasonable. However, if you struck out and then
repeatedly hit the person then you could be turning your
'defence' into an 'offence'.
Reasonable depends on the
situation, EG: A group are hitting on you and you hit
back to defend yourself, however, a group are name
calling you and you hit one of them, is it possible that
you could have walked away from the situation? If you
honestly and truly believed that you were about to be hit
then you would have a defence but if you knew that the
name calling was only that and you hit one of them then
you could be guilty of assault.
It's a fine line sometimes between
defending yourself and assaulting someone.
It can be hard to know as you are the one under pressure
from the bully(s).
Unfortunately 'hitting back' doesn't guarantee the
bullying will stop but if the bullies know that you are
prepared to stick up for yourself they may begin to leave
you alone.
most bullies don't like a challenge, they like it easy.
Show you are not scared and your confidence should rise!
the next page (can the police help?)