 Section 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 criminalises " whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously wound or inflict any grievous bodily harm upon any other person , either with or without any weapon or instrument " . The maximum penalty , five years , is the same as that for actual bodily harm , but a section 20 offence is considered more serious by the courts and the Crown Prosecution Service . A judge is free on the facts of the case to allow a jury find a defendant guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm where a defendant is charged with a section 20 offence . 
