An assault is any act intentionally or recklessly causing the victim immediate and unlawful personal injury or violence. If violence is threatened, there must be the ability to carry out the threat at the time.
In law, an assault does not have to involve physical contact. An assault may involve a threat alone; however there must be the prospect of the threat being carried out immediately and for the victim to fear that the threat will be carried out immediately.
Police Scotland defines domestic abuse as:
"Any form of physical, verbal, sexual, psychological or financial abuse which might amount to criminal conduct and which takes place within the context of a relationship. The relationship will be between partners (married, cohabiting, civil partnership or otherwise) or ex-partners. The abuse can be committed in the home or elsewhere including online"
Immediate Risk/Danger
If there is an immediate risk/danger to you or someone else always phone 999. The police will ensure that any incident reported is met with an appropriate response by police officers. The initial priority for police officers attending a domestic abuse incident is the safety and well-being of the victim, their family and any other person present.
Report the matter to the Police
Domestic abuse is not just physical abuse, it includes verbal, sexual, psychological or financial abuse. It is often about power and control, with abusers seeking to use complex controlling behaviours to isolate you from those who can support you.
If you report abuse to the police it will be taken seriously, you will be listened to and believed. We will work alongside other service providers to support you throughout the criminal justice process and to keep you and your families safe. Perpetrators can be held to account for the harm they have caused if we work together.
There are several ways you can report this to the police:
Seek support from Victim Support and Advocacy Services
If you feel you are unable to make a report to Police for whatever reason, you can seek support and advice from victim support and advocacy services. Victim support and advocacy services are focused on reducing risk to and improving the safety of victims of domestic abuse. For more information on domestic abuse victim support and advocacy services, please visit the Police Scotland website.
The Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland (DSDAS )
DSDAS gives those in a relationship, or those concerned for them (e.g. friends, relatives etc.), the 'Right to Ask' about an individual whom they suspect may have a history of violent or abusive behaviour towards a previous partner.
Often referred to as Clare's Law, DSDAS provides a formal process for sharing information with individuals at risk of domestic abuse due to the risk posed to them by a partner, as assessed by Police Scotland.
Police Scotland provides individuals at risk of domestic abuse the information needed to make an informed decision on whether to continue in the relationship.
For further information visit; Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse in Scotland.
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In many cases but not all, the police will take photographs of the injuries, especially in serious cases. Photographic evidence of injuries help provide evidence in the event of a case going to trial.
In most cases, spitting if done deliberately will be an assault. If however, it is accidental then it will not be an assault.
Whilst there is no legal requirement to report a crime there is a moral duty on every one of us to report to the police anything that you have seen that may be a crime or something that you suspect may be a crime.
It depends on what type of incident you are reporting. This area of law is very complex so the following is a basic guide only (as there are exceptions).
Road Traffic Incidents -
Most crimes do not have a time limit for reporting them. The crimes that do have time limits are summary only which means that they can only be tried at a Sheriff Court so are relatively minor offences, they must be prosecuted within 6 months (e.g. common assault, harassment and take without owners consent).
Do bear in mind that the longer the period between the incident happening and reporting the matter to the police the harder it will be for the police to gather the evidence.
