 A distinction is drawn betwixt the offence of assault and that of battery . Assault is the apprehension of the possibility of immediate unlawful violence , and battery that of the infliction of such violence . Several proposals , including one from the Criminal Law Revision Committee in 1980 have proposed merging the offences . However , the distinction was confirmed in DPP v Little in 1992 . There , the conflation of assault and battery was criticised as duplicitous . If D throws a punch at V , who dodges , this is likely to be an assault but not a battery ; if V is attacked from behind , this may constitute a battery without an assault . Actions which constitute ordinary daily life are not considered assault or battery , for example , jostling on a crowded train . The term " common assault " is used to refer to either a technical assault or a battery . 
