R v Brown

For the Canadian Supreme Court case on whether extreme intoxication can be used as a defence to criminal charges, see R v Brown (2022).

R v Brown
CourtHouse of Lords
Decided11 March 1993
Citations[1993] UKHL 19
[1994] 1 AC 212
[1993] 2 WLR 556
[1993] 2 All ER 75
(1993) 97 Cr App R 44
Case history
Prior actionsConviction in the Crown Court (defence ruled out by judge; guilty pleas)
Conviction upheld by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales
Keywords
Assault occasioning actual bodily harm
Malicious wounding
Consent

R v Brown [1993] UKHL 19, [1994] 1 AC 212 is a House of Lords judgment that confirmed the conviction of five men for consensual sadomasochistic acts over a ten-year period. The men were convicted of unlawful and malicious wounding and assault occasioning actual bodily harm under sections 20 and 47 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. The central question was whether consent could be a valid defence to assault in these circumstances. The Court held it could not.

The case is known colloquially as the Spanner case, after Operation Spanner, the police investigation that uncovered the activities.

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