Dappy Guilty of Affray and Common Assault

The N-Dubz rapper Dappy has been found guilty of affray and common assault (assault by beating) in relation to a fight at a petrol station. The 25-year old was convicted by a jury at Guilford Crown Court following an incident on the 28 February 2012. It was reported that he sighed and shook his head when the verdicts were announced.

The court heard that at 3.30am at a petrol station the rapper approached two girls and tried to persuade them to get into a car and attend a recording studio with him. When they refused and ridiculed him the rapper became angry and subsequently spat at another man, David Jenkins, when he stepped in to protect the girls. Following this Jenkins placed the rapper in a headlock and a fight ensued with a number of people.

Dappy faced a further two counts of common assault, having allegedly spat at the two girls but missing them. He was acquitted on these counts.

The case was adjourned for sentencing until the 15^th February so that a pre-sentence report can be prepared. This document will assess what punishments might be suitable for the convicted rapper.

Some notes on the law

Although common assault and affray are offences that are often reported in the media their legal meanings are not entirely clear to the public. So what exactly is common assault? Common assault involves either the offence of assault or battery. Assault is intentional or reckless conduct which causes another to believe that unlawful force will imminently be used against them. Battery is the intentional or reckless unlawful application of force to another. Recklessness is defined in law as foreseeing the possibility of certain outcome as a result of your actions but still going on to take the risk of it. The law tells us that when we charge a person for assault or battery it must be under section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. It also tells us that when we charge a person for battery we must charge them with ‘assault by beating’.  So in Dappy’s case he was charged with assault by beating, namely battery. He unlawfully applied force to David Jenkins by spitting on him.

Turning now to affray, the essence of this offence is the use or threat of violence by one person against another which would cause a third person at the scene to fear for their personal safety. In addition, a person must intend to use or threaten violence or realise that his conduct may be violent or threaten violence. So the offence focuses on how violent conduct affects those who might observe it. It is a public order offence, charged under section 3 of the Public Order Act 1986.