Aggravated Assaults

Aggravated assaults, 'Aggravated' means aggravated in respect of violence, not by reason of indecency, R. v. Baker, (1876) 46 LJ Ex 75; on females or boys under fourteen, see (English) Offences against the Person Act, 1861, s. 43, which allows two justices, 'if the assault or battery is of such an aggravated nature that it cannot in their opinion be sufficiently punished under the provisions of s. 42 as to common assaults and batteries,' to give a convicted offender six months' imprisonment with hard labour or to fine him up to 20l. including costs (the maximum punishment for a common assault being two months' imprisonment, or a fine up to 5l.) and to bind him over to keep the peace. (English) Criminal Justice Act, 1925 (c. 86), s. 39 (2), has increased the fine up to 50l., not including costs.

Means the criminal assault accompanied by circumstances that make it more severe, such as the use of a deadly weapon, the intent to commit another crime, or the intent to cause serious bodily harm, Black Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 109.