R v Keane [2010]

Court: Court of Appeal

Facts: The appellant (D) spent an evening drinking and accepted a ride home from an acquaintance. During a stop at a petrol station, D argued with a young woman passenger over her smoking, which he claimed was unsafe. The argument became physical when D pushed her to the ground. The driver approached to address D’s behavior, but D claimed he thought the driver was going to attack him, so he punched him. The driver fell, sustaining serious head injuries and later had no memory of the incident. At trial, the judge instructed that self-defence is not available if the defendant was the initial aggressor or had provoked the altercation. D was convicted of grievous bodily harm and appealed.

Issue: The key issue was whether self-defence could apply when the defendant was the aggressor or had deliberately provoked the victim.

Held: The appeal was dismissed, affirming that self-defence generally cannot be relied upon by an aggressor. However, it can be available if the victim’s response was grossly disproportionate to the original provocation, effectively reversing their roles.

Key Judicial Statements: Hughes LJ explained that self-defence might sometimes be relevant for an original aggressor if the victim’s reaction was excessive enough to alter the dynamic, essentially flipping the aggressor role.

💡 Leveluplaw: clarifies that initial aggressors generally cannot claim self-defence unless the victim's reaction is disproportionately severe, altering who is deemed the aggressor in the situation.