R v AJB

In the case of R v AJB, the defendant was charged with various offences, including an assault occasioning bodily harm contrary to s 339(1) and (2)(a) of the Criminal Code (Qld). The dispute centred on the sufficiency of the evidence presented to establish the elements of the charged offences. The case was heard in the District Court of Queensland.

The court was required to decide whether there was a defect in the prosecution's evidence that rendered it insufficient to establish the elements of the offences charged. Specifically, the court needed to determine whether the prosecution had failed to provide evidence of a critical element of the offence of assault occasioning bodily harm, namely, whether the victim had stopped breathing. The court also needed to interpret the meaning of the words "choke", "strangle", and "suffocate" as they appeared in s 315A(1)(a) and (b) of the Criminal Code (Qld).

The court held that the prosecution had failed to provide evidence that the victim had stopped breathing, which was a necessary element of the offence of assault occasioning bodily harm. The court found that the words "choke", "strangle", and "suffocate" required the victim to have stopped breathing, and that this was not established by the evidence. The court also held that the absence of evidence of this element was a defect in the prosecution's case that could not be remedied by the jury. Accordingly, the court directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty on count 2, and this direction was carried out.