Is it an offence to remove or knock off someone's hat without consent?
An example would be A civilian removing a policeman's hat without using any force.
A civilian removing another's baseball cap without any force.
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Sign up to join this communityIs it an offence to remove or knock off someone's hat without consent?
An example would be A civilian removing a policeman's hat without using any force.
A civilian removing another's baseball cap without any force.
Maybe.
Not a UK source but from the Judicial Commission of NSW:
An assault is any act — and not a mere omission to act — by which a person intentionally — or recklessly — causes another to apprehend immediate and unlawful violence: R v Burstow; R v Ireland [1998] 1 AC 147. Thus it is the fear which is the gist of assault.
If in removing the hat you engender fear of immediate and unlawful violence then you have assaulted the hat wearer. If the act does not create that fear, you haven't.
Herring, Criminal Law: Text, Cases, and Materials (8 edn, 2018). p. 316.
If hats are regarded as clothing, then as per the red underline, the answer is yes.