R v Constanza

R v Constanza
R v Constanza
Court	Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
Full case name	R v Gaetano Constanza
Decided	6 March 1997
Citations	[1997] 2 Cr App R 492; The Times, March 31, 1997
Cases cited	None
Legislation cited	Offences Against the Person Act 1861 s. 47
Case history
Prior action	Conviction in Luton Crown Court. Presided by HHJ Moss. (Unreported)
Subsequent action	None
Court membership
Judges sitting	Schiemann LJ; Mr Justice Curtis (Curtis J); Sir Neil Denison (the Common Serjeant) both acting as judge of the Court of Appeal;
Keywords
	Assault; Harassment;

R v Constanza [1997] is an English case reaching the Court of Appeal and is well-known (amongst other cases) for establishing the legal precedent in English criminal law that assault could be committed by causing the victim to apprehend violence which was to take place some time in the not immediate future, that it is not necessary for the victim to see the potential perpetrator of the violence, and that it was for the prosecution to prove that fear was in the victim's mind, but how it got there is irrelevant.