Court case(1830) 4 C and P 349

The plaintiff was acting as chairman at a parish meeting, sitting at the head of a table. The defendant sat at the same table some way off. In the course of the meeting the defendant became violent and noisy, and a motion was carried that he be turned out of the room. He then advanced towards the chairman with his fist clenched, saying that he would rather pull him out of the chair than be turned out of the room. He was stopped by the churchwarden, who sat next but one to the chairman, before he could get near enough to strike. The chairman sued for assault.

Tindal C.J. directed the jury that it is not every threat, when there is no actual personal violence, that constitutes an assault; there must in all cases be the means of carrying the threat into effect. The question was whether the defendant was advancing with intent to strike the plaintiff, and whether he was so near that, had he not been stopped, he would almost immediately have reached and struck him. If so, it was an assault in law, although he was stopped before he was near enough to strike. The jury found for the plaintiff and awarded a shilling damages.